KİPTAŞ Chairman Ali Kurt's testimony revealed: Arrested in the 4th wave operation

The corruption investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into individuals including İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on charges of "managing a criminal organization," "membership in a criminal organization," "extortion," "bribery," "qualified fraud," "unlawful acquisition of personal data," and "rigging tenders," is ongoing.

The testimony given by KİPTAŞ Chairman Ali Kurt, who was detained as part of the investigation, at the Branch Directorate of Financial Crimes has been obtained.

When asked about movable and immovable properties registered in his and his wife's name, Kurt stated that they own the house they reside in under his wife's name, 2 houses acquired through a revenue-sharing construction contract in Urla, and a plot of land registered in his own name.

Kurt was reminded that the house they reside in is worth 2 million 500 thousand dollars, and was asked, "Is there a specific reason why the other apartment you currently reside in in Istanbul, which is located within the same project, belongs to the projects of M* Construction?"

Kurt explained that they bought the house in question from a firm named A* off-plan as soon as the project was launched, and that the company named M* was one of the project's partners, while the management company was A*.

Kurt was reminded of findings that there were some vehicles rented to KİPTAŞ from the company named M* and that the Social Security Institution (SGK) records of the 4 people using these vehicles were at KİPTAŞ, and was asked, "What is the reason for these vehicles being rented from a firm in Ankara by a private construction company and given to the use of KİPTAŞ employees, who are an İBB subsidiary? What kind of relationship exists between the firm titled M* and KİPTAŞ?"

Kurt replied to the question, "KİPTAŞ acquires these vehicles within the scope of contracts signed with contractor firms and allocates these vehicles to the personnel. The vehicles mentioned here are also among those acquired within the scope of the Beşiktaş Karanfilköy project carried out with the M* firm. Vehicle acquisitions have been done this way since the history of KİPTAŞ. There is no business or partnership between M* and the KİPTAŞ institution other than a contractor relationship."

ANSWERED QUESTIONS REGARDING THE VALUES OF HIS IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES

Kurt was reminded that in the report prepared by the teams of the İzmir Provincial Police Department, it was stated that his immovable properties were worth between 30 million and 100 million based on their location, while his own SGK records showed 195 thousand 41 liras, and that he had claimed these properties were worth 400 thousand liras.

Furthermore, Kurt was asked for his response to findings that his wife Aslı Kurt's earnings in SGK examinations were 26 thousand liras, and that inquiries revealed information about a firm titled Kurt Proje Yönetimi Danışmanlık AŞ, which is in liquidation, in partnership and management records, and that this firm had been struck off, and his wife's partnership information was determined to be in a passive state.

Kurt replied to the question, "The immovable properties were acquired when they were still plots of land. Afterwards, a revenue-sharing contract was signed. According to the contract, one house was to be for my wife and one for the contractor. The construction continued for 4 years and is still ongoing. One apartment remaining with the contractor was transferred to a person indicated by the contractor. Although the stated values are exorbitant, they were made based on current values, not the date of purchase. However, the purchase value of this immovable property is much lower."

EXPLANATION REGARDING THE TRANSFER OF APARTMENTS

During his interrogation, the statements of Ulaş Y., who testified as a complainant within the scope of the investigation, were read to Kurt, stating that "KİPTAŞ Yeşilpınar houses were an urban transformation project, that 370 apartments remained from here, and that a contract was made for these apartments to be sold to him."

Noting that the title deeds of these apartments began to be transferred slowly, Ulaş Y.'s testimony included the following:

"However, transfers cannot be made due to some legal processes and the newly appointed trustee. However, when the transfers made are examined, it will be seen that there are second sales to many foreigners. When the contracts are examined, it will be clearly seen that most of the second transfers are to foreigners. Here, after the devaluation experienced in 2021, because the apartment values, which were 2.5 million at the stage we initially agreed upon, rose to 5-6 millions in a short period of 6 months, Adem Soytekin (detained suspect) and Ali Kurt caused us difficulties to obtain more rent from the apartments in question. Ufuk T. received 2 million 750 thousand liras from us under the table in return for the mediation he provided. As far as I know, we heard that he also received 3 million 750 thousand liras from Soytekin. There is a voice recording regarding this."

Against these statements, Ali Kurt claimed that he did not know Ulaş Y. and stated that he or KİPTAŞ had no discretion regarding the transfer of the apartments in question.

During his interrogation, the statement of the secret witness Rüzgar was read to Kurt: "...Fatih Özçelik (detained suspect) follows the expropriation works. Fatih designs the structure of the irregularities to be committed. Fatih is also someone Ali Kurt placed there. Ali Kurt is responsible for KİPTAŞ and a few subsidiaries. Recently, KİPTAŞ has been giving all its work to subcontractors and money is being collected from these contractors under the name of a fund. This money is being collected to be used during İmamoğlu's presidential candidacy process."

In his defense, noting that Özçelik started working as a civil servant at the municipality before him and was promoted later, Kurt stated that the allegation that he placed him in the job was baseless.

During his interrogation, the statement of witness E.Ç. was read to Kurt: "Ali Kurt is the person at the head of KİPTAŞ. He receives commissions in KİPTAŞ tenders. He sets aside a portion for himself and gives the rest to Fatih Keleş. These collected commissions are collected for the purpose of being used in Ekrem İmamoğlu's presidential election and seizing power within the party."

Kurt argued that the witness statements were lies.

DENIED ALLEGATIONS IN VOICE RECORDINGS

Ali Kurt was asked questions regarding the voice recordings in the investigation file.

Kurt, to whom the voice recording was described, was asked, "What is your connection with the person named Adem Soytekin? What is the reason for Soytekin not entering the tender with his firm titled A*? Why is he entering the tender with his firm titled S*? What is your connection with these firms? Why do the people speaking mention you? Why are they talking about you reaching the 'Mayor'? Explain the content of the conversation read to you and made to be read."

Kurt replied to this question as follows:

"I don't even know if the person named Adem Soytekin has a firm titled A*, I have no idea why he didn't participate in the tender. I have no information or connection regarding the mentioned firms and the processes of entering or not entering the tender. I guess the people speaking are the person named Müge D., and this supports the criminal complaints we have filed with her repeatedly. Because I understand from these conversations that they are looking for a solution by involving me in the problems they have with Soytekin. Furthermore, I do not accept any of the allegations made against me in the conversation."

Kurt was read one of the other voice recordings and was told, "What is the reason for the people speaking mentioning you? For what purpose was the money that the person stated as X female person deposited into KİPTAŞ? Why does she state that she was victimized by KİPTAŞ? What is your role in this victimization? Explain the content of the conversation read to you and made to be read."

Ali Kurt also stated regarding this issue, "Regarding the money she stated she deposited into KİPTAŞ, I do not know who the X female person is and I cannot guess, and it is not possible for me to know the details of the money deposited into KİPTAŞ. I also have no information about the money mentioned in the conversation. As for her victimization by KİPTAŞ, the name Müge D., which I mentioned, comes to my mind regarding this issue. It is not possible for me and KİPTAŞ to be a party to the mentioned victimization."

TESTIMONY OF OFFICIAL DRIVER ATAÇ

Kamuran Ataç, the official driver of consultant Yakup Öner, who works as an engineer at İBB, was asked during his police interrogation about the findings in the MASAK report regarding money transfers: 1 million 924 thousand 355 liras in 56 transactions with S.A. between 2017-2024, 1 million 750 thousand liras in 2 transactions within 4 days in October 2024 with A.G., 1 million 718 thousand 953 liras in 22 transactions with F.Ö. between 2018-2022, and 1 million 451 thousand 407 liras in 11 transactions with H.A. between 2018-2022.

Ataç gave the following answer to the question:

"S.A. is my brother. The money transfer between us was sent out of necessity. These money transfers are from a brother-brother relationship. The money transfer between me and A.G. was for real estate buying and selling business due to my mother-in-law not being in our country due to health problems. This real estate in question is the house I currently live in, which is in my wife's name. I have known F.Ö. for many years; the money transfers between us were due to his financial difficulties and occasionally my financial difficulties."

When asked about giving a common base station record 267 times with suspect İbrahim Bülbüllü, Ataç replied, "I do not know İbrahim Bülbüllü personally. I only know that he works as a council member within the İBB. Some of the data I gave with him is completely coincidental. There is a cafe belonging to my brother across from the Beylikdüzü Adnan Kahveci neighborhood market. I sit there from time to time and drink tea and coffee, I gave this base station there. The base stations I gave with him happened completely by coincidence. I have never met or spoken with him."