Statement from Haluk Levent: Do not judge me for Ahbap Association donations

Starting his letter by saying, "Friends, I am not a fraudster. Do you know why? Because I paid everyone two or three times over, even if late," Levent said he was disgraced because of his gambling addiction. Saying, "Judge me by my creditors, my debts, and for upsetting people, but do not judge me for Ahbap Association donations," Levent addressed his relatives, friends, and Ahbap donors, stating, "Please do not bow your heads, I did not betray the donations made to the Ahbap Association." Levent also used the expression, "I am not a good enough person; I succumbed to my fame, my ambition, and my weaknesses."  Stating that he borrowed irregularly from Ahbap and was preparing to close his debts, Levent explained that right during this process, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek went to the venue of businessman Yüksel Ersoy, from whom Haluk Levent had borrowed money. Expressing that the detention process accelerated after this meeting, Levent addressed Minister Gürlek, saying, "Mr. Minister Akın Gürlek, will you be able to say, 'I did not go to Beylerbeyi, I did not meet with Yüksel Ersoy'? You will not be able to. Because the state already has the HTS records. Mr. Minister, what could you have talked about with the person I have a debtor-creditor relationship with at his venue? Right after that, I was detained." 

"My gambling addiction comes occasionally"

Starting his letter by saying he is not a fraudster, Levent said he has a "gambling addiction." Levent stated, "Friends, I am not a fraudster. I have never been convicted of fraud. Do you know why? Because I paid everyone two or three times over, even if late. My gambling addiction comes occasionally. I gamble especially during periods when I go under, when I go bankrupt. I go into very high debt. Gambling is a very bad disease. I hope children learn a lesson from my life. Gambling is like this: Let's say I have a 50 lira debt and you are not paying it, you ask someone for 20 liras and say you will give 50 liras in return. You bet the 20 TL on gambling, you lose, and your debt goes up to 100 TL. This cycle ends one day, and thus you are disgraced." 

Noting that he will write the "incredible" stories of how he went bankrupt later, Levent said, "I am not a good enough person; I am someone who offers 2-3 times the amount to borrow money from people for my debts. It's a disease, in other words..." 

"There are many people I owe"

Levent continued as follows: "My family, my friends, my companions might be ashamed of me regarding this issue. There are many people I owe who have not yet come to light. I borrowed from hundreds of people. Some people did not ask for interest, I paid the exact amount; to some, I became indebted three or four times over. Does a 35 million debt become 250 million in 6 months? I will explain it all later." 

"Do not judge me for Ahbap Association donations"

Noting that he should not be judged for Ahbap Association donations, Levent used the following expressions: "Judge me by my creditors, my debts, and for upsetting people. But do not judge me for Ahbap Association donations. The entirety of my personal debt to the Ahbap Association is in the association's resolution book. I did not steal! I went into debt this year, that is true. But there is this side to the matter, I am similarly calling out to MASAK officials to examine the accounts of the people whose accounts I used between 2017 and 2026. According to my calculations, I have personally provided over 400 million liras in aid out of my own pocket, I have donated to the Ahbap Association. I have provided unrequited aid to 1520 families out of my own pocket. Come on, let them say it's a lie if it's a lie! There are transfers of 30 thousand, 10 thousand, 100 thousand TL. Furthermore, for 9 years, I have been paying the rent and sending 17 girls and one boy who have suffered violence and sexual abuse to the best schools so they can hold on to life. I am announcing this for the first time. Because on TV, it is being discussed that these small amounts of money were sent to organization members. These are poor families whose children are hurt and sick, not organization members! MASAK, please explain." 

"I am not a good enough person; I succumbed to my fame, my ambition, and my weaknesses"

Levent said, "I am not a good enough person, I am a bad father. I succumbed to my fame, my ambition, and my weaknesses. I overextended myself a lot in the last year. While I do not forgive myself, I do not expect anyone to forgive me." 

"Please do not bow your heads, I did not betray the donations made to the Ahbap Association"

Addressing his relatives and Ahbap donors, Levent said, "My artist brothers and sisters with whom we gathered at Ahbap during the earthquake period, dear Ahbap Association donors, my dear friends, my older sisters living in Adana, my nephews and nieces, my relatives... Please do not bow your heads, hold your heads high. Because I did not betray the donations made to the Ahbap Association. Not even 1 TL from the earthquake period was stolen." 

"I made irregular transactions within the association, but I was going to close my debt, I arranged everything"

Levent explained the process leading to his arrest with these words:

"In the last year, I entered into irregular borrowings within the Association. The crime and punishment for this are clear. There was a gold purchase and a land collateral in exchange for 50 million liras. I had the power to put it all back before the Ministry of Interior inspection arrived. I just needed a little time. Because in the last year, with the logic of taking from there and giving here, taking from here and giving there, the debt multiplied by 5. I made irregular transactions, but I said I would close my debt before the inspection anyway. Then I received a penalty in court for my personal checks. My brother was arrested in the Şile Municipality file. I was abroad at the time, I returned immediately. Because I knew my turn was coming. I took action last Friday, that is, on July 10, 2026, to return the figures I irregularly borrowed from Ahbap. Because I knew they were going to detain me because a restriction had been placed on my passport.

Anyway, on Friday I arranged everything I needed to repay to Ahbap: 50 million worth of gold. Furthermore, I sent an Ahbap Association employee to the Çerkezköy Manager. Against my debt, the entries for 20 3+1 houses, which are worth 150 million TL today, were made. Unfortunately, it did not make it by Friday evening, it was left for Monday. The HTS records and the footage at the title deed office will verify what I am saying. I also prepared the 140 million TL that I was short of. There will be those who do not believe it. On Friday, July 10, 140 million TL arrived in the Ataşehir Halkbank Zafer Yay account; MASAK will verify this. Everything was complete. A phone call came. The caller was businessman Yüksel Ersoy. I owed him too, I was paying it off little by little. He is a sweet man, and so is his son, God is my witness. He asked me on the phone, "What did you do?" I said, "Brother, I have resolved Ahbap's shortages, I wouldn't grieve even if I died." I said, "I will be with you on Monday, I am coming for debt restructuring."

From Levent to Akın Gürlek: What could you have talked about with the person I have a debtor-creditor relationship with?

Explaining that after preparing the necessary money to pay the debts, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek went to the venue of businessman Yüksel Ersoy, from whom Haluk Levent had borrowed money, Levent stated that the detention process accelerated after this meeting. He addressed Minister Gürlek, saying, "Mr. Minister Akın Gürlek, will you be able to say, 'I did not go to Beylerbeyi, I did not meet with Yüksel Ersoy'? You will not be able to. Because the state already has the HTS records. Mr. Minister, what could you have talked about with the person I have a debtor-creditor relationship with at his venue? Right after that, I was detained." 

Levent explained the process in which he claimed Minister Gürlek was involved as follows:

"Do you know what happened? Towards Saturday evening, Mr. Minister Akın Gürlek goes to Yüksel Ersoy's venue. Let's say it's a coincidence... The topic comes to me. Mr. Yüksel talks to the Minister about Ahbap, he talks about how I am going to close Ahbap's accounts. Then do you know what happens? So that I cannot pay my debt on Monday, the "Ahbap operation" is moved to Sunday noon (you know such operations are carried out simultaneously at the crack of dawn). So that I don't make it to Monday, so that the Ahbap Association employees don't make it to the title deeds on Monday for the accounts, they detain me in Bursa on Sunday. An incredible setup! Mr. Minister Akın Gürlek, will you be able to say, "I did not go to Beylerbeyi, I did not meet with Yüksel Ersoy"? You will not be able to. Because the state already has the HTS records. Mr. Minister, what could you have talked about with the person I have a debtor-creditor relationship with at his venue? Right after that, I was detained. If I had not been detained, they would not have been able to tell the lie that he stole money from Ahbap after Monday. They did not want me to close my irregular borrowing."