Testimony of Eyüp Subaşı, released under 'effective remorse': I paid 5 million liras under the table

The "corruption" investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the İBB is ongoing.

In his prosecutor's testimony, Eyüp Subaşı, one of the suspects in the investigation, claimed that he met Fatih Keleş at a dinner in 2014 and that two months before the municipal elections that year, Keleş called him and offered him the opportunity to handle the printing and billboard work for Ekrem İmamoğlu's election campaign.

Stating that he accepted the offer, Subaşı said, "Subsequently, Keleş introduced me to Ekrem İmamoğlu at an election office in Beylikdüzü. During this meeting, İmamoğlu told me, 'You can manage the entire official and unofficial process regarding advertising work with Fatih Keleş.' After this process, I handled the advertising work for Keleş and İmamoğlu, first during his time as Mayor of Beylikdüzü, and then during his time as Metropolitan Mayor."

Subaşı alleged that during the 2019 elections, he called Keleş and told him he could handle İmamoğlu's election activities and advertising work, and that Keleş accepted the offer and he carried out these tasks.

"I HANDED OVER APPROXIMATELY 5 MILLION LIRAS IN CASH TO KELEŞ ON DIFFERENT DATES"

Claiming that after İmamoğlu was elected Mayor of Istanbul in 2019, he informed Fatih Keleş that his company's area of expertise was outdoor and other advertising media and that he could handle work related to these, Subaşı explained the following:

"Fatih Keleş accepted this offer and demanded 10 percent of my turnover in cash, under the table, for the production tender work. I accepted. In the subsequent process, Keleş directed me to Serdal Taşkın, who was appointed as the General Manager of Kültür AŞ. Taşkın organized the production-related tender process in a way that I would win. The subject of this tender, which I referred to as production, is the digital printing, billboards, posters, and municipal promotional information visuals to be made over one year. This tender was held in early 2020. I withdrew 10 percent of the portion of the turnover we generated during the tender process corresponding to progress payments and invoices in cash from the Genç Popülist Medya company and handed it over to Fatih Keleş in pieces on different dates, totaling approximately 5 million liras, at his office in the presidential residence in Florya. As far as I could see, there was no safe in this office. He would put the money in a cabinet there or take it away in a backpack. Fatih Keleş used to tell me that Ekrem İmamoğlu himself was aware of these cash payments."

Subaşı claimed that near the end of the contract period for the tender in question, he was asked by Kültür AŞ General Manager Serdal Taşkın to find side bids for the period that would remain vacant until a new tender was held, stating, "For the work during this period, we obtained side bids from Quara, Format Reklam, and a firm whose name I don't remember belonging to Kabil Taşçı. After Taşkın left his post in the sixth month of 2020, Murat Ongun managed the advertising process entirely. Murat Abbas, who came to the General Directorate of Kültür AŞ, only dealt with culture and arts affairs. Murat Ongun organized the advertising work with Emrah Bağdatlı and the organizational work with Barış Kılıç."

Claiming that he met with Murat Ongun at his office in Saraçhane in 2020 to discuss the new process, Subaşı continued his testimony as follows:

“In this meeting, he told me, ‘Mr. Eyüp, we are only going to build our own structure; we are not considering working with you in the new term.’ He told me to fulfill my responsibilities regarding the tenders I had already won and that he would not give me any other work. This production-related job I mentioned was later given to a company called Büyük Baskı Merkezi (BBM), which belongs to the İlbak family. I have no information regarding the relationships and communication involved in the process of awarding this job to that company.”

Subaşı alleged that after Serdal Taşkın became general manager in 2019, when he spoke with him about the digital billboard tender, Taşkın told him that the tender had not yet been opened and that he could use these advertising channels until the tender was opened, provided he paid an "ecrimisil" (occupational compensation) fee.

Explaining that he used these advertising spaces by paying an "ecrimisil" fee until the tender was held through a company named "Panoffect," which he first established in his son's name in 2019 and later took over in his own name, Subaşı stated that when the tender process for the digital billboard arrived, he asked Taşkın for help. He recounted that upon Taşkın's instruction to bid 15 million liras or more, he won the tender by bidding 16 million liras.

Claiming that he argued with Murat Ongun several times during this process, Subaşı said, “Subsequently, I became unable to obtain advertising permits from anywhere related to the municipality and its subsidiaries. They even canceled the advertising permit for our large glass-fronted building in Mecidiyeköy and took down some of my parapets. Thus, Murat Ongun established a mechanism that provided regular income to the ‘system’.”

Subaşı claimed that a tender was held on February 14, 2020, for advertising spaces in metro stations, that he won the tender thanks to Keleş and Taşkın, and that he bid 15 million liras under Taşkın's direction. He stated, “Regarding the work on metro exit closures, I spoke with consultant Ertan Yıldız, who is responsible for the metros, and told him that since we were already managing the station advertising spaces, we wanted to take on such a job because metro expenses had risen significantly. Ertan Yıldız told me that he could give me this job, but that I had to pay him 5 million liras in cash under the table, and that I also had to carry out part of the work together with his own company, ‘Anatolia Sign’.”

Claiming that he gave the 5 million liras in cash to Yıldız in a parking lot, Subaşı said, “At the same time, I sent around 40 million liras to the account of the company named ‘Anatolia Sign’ as an offset against the work to be done, even though it was slightly above market rates.”