Reaction from YENİ Party's Murat Bakan to 'foreign-sourced correspondence': Under whose instructions is this being produced?

Noting that his name was also mentioned in WhatsApp correspondence allegedly belonging to the detained Menderes Mayor İlksen Özalper, Bakan stated, "If these correspondences are not real as alleged, it must be revealed by whom or by which parties, for what purpose, and under whose instructions this digital content was produced and circulated.

If these correspondences are real, I demand that the necessary actions be taken regarding the parties involved in the correspondence," he said.

Stating that he had filed a criminal complaint with the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Bakan said it was determined that the WhatsApp messages were published via a foreign-sourced account and added, "We are not facing a singular rumor, but an organized perception operation with a specific political goal." 

Bakan used the following expressions in his social media post: 

"The WhatsApp messages, which are alleged to belong to the Menderes Mayor but which she had previously clearly stated did not belong to her and for which she had filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office, have been put back into circulation following the Mayor's detention. My name is also included in the content in question.

For this reason, I filed a criminal complaint with the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office today.

If these correspondences are not real as alleged, it must be revealed by whom or by which parties, for what purpose, and under whose instructions this digital content was produced and circulated.

If these correspondences are real, I demand that the necessary actions be taken regarding the parties involved in the correspondence.

I would like to state this clearly: In two and a half years, I have met with the Menderes Mayor only three times in total, outside of official meetings. Let alone any interest-based relationship, I have not even had a cup of tea with her. During this period, I have had no requests from her on any matter. The only exception is a battery-powered wheelchair I requested for a disabled citizen living in Çileme village. This is the extent of my 'dealings' in politics; and I am proud of that.

I am not the only person whose name appears in this content. Other individuals have previously applied to the prosecutor's office due to the same content, and it has been determined that the content was published via a foreign-sourced account. We are not facing a singular rumor, but an organized perception operation with a specific political goal.

I will also initiate legal proceedings against everyone who spreads these correspondences as if they were real, builds a perception based on them, and deliberately targets people with misleading information."