Soylu had denied permission for investigation: Former Üsküdar Mayor Hilmi Türkmen to stand trial!

The path has been cleared for the trial of AKP member Hilmi Türkmen, who served as Mayor of Üsküdar for two terms and lost to CHP candidate Sinem Dedetaş in the March 31 local elections.

A citizen named Faruk Kıyım had filed a complaint against Hilmi Türkmen and municipal officials Bayram Kaya, Duran Kurnaz, Abdullah Ayaz, and Volkan Raşit Özcan, alleging that they had committed the crime of "misconduct in office."

According to a report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; Kıyım stated that the municipal officials committed a crime by failing to demolish illegal structures on land he owns, and alleged that these structures were overlooked.

WILL BE RETRIED

However, the court of first instance acquitted Türkmen and the municipal officials, who had defended themselves by claiming, "There were too many buildings to be demolished and the municipality's resources were limited."

The 13th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, which reviewed Kıyım's appeal against the acquittal, rejected the appeal regarding the request for the conviction of Bayram Kaya, Duran Kurnaz, Abdullah Ayaz, and Volkan Raşit Özcan for misconduct in office. However, the court ruled that Hilmi Türkmen should be retried.

The justification for this decision, issued on May 2, was stated as "the failure to take Türkmen's defense during the hearing in the initial trial, and that establishing an acquittal verdict in writing was contrary to the law." The decision, which emphasized that Kıyım's application was well-founded, stated that the verdict for Türkmen was overturned.

"HE WILL RECEIVE HIS FIRST SENTENCE FROM THIS CASE"

Faruk Kıyım's lawyer, Onur Cingil, said the following in his statement:

"My client has been engaged in a struggle that has lasted for many years. The struggle that began with his father continued with my client. The Mayor displaced many poor people under the guise of urban transformation to open up areas for rent, and was involved in scandalous scenes accompanied by police. He also carried out many unlawful actions during my client's process. After a long time, the trial began, and the defendant of the period, Mayor Hilmi Türkmen, never appeared before the court, and most of the defendants did not come either. An acquittal was given in such a trial environment. We knew this decision would be overturned; the appellate court overturned the decision and said, 'there is a violation of the law and you must punish the defendants.' It appears that former Mayor Türkmen will be punished as a result of this trial. We do not know if he will receive a sentence for other matters such as tenders, etc., but he will receive his first sentence from this case."

SÜLEYMAN SOYLU HAD PROTECTED HIM

AKP member Süleyman Soylu had also denied permission for an investigation into Hilmi Türkmen during his time as Minister of the Interior. The Üsküdar Municipality's awarding of a multi-million lira tender to a company linked to the Ensar Foundation had been taken to the judiciary, but Soylu blocked this investigation in 2022.