Testimony of Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan revealed

Şahan gave his statement to teams from the Counter-Terrorism Branch. Regarding the statements made by secret witnesses, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan said, "I will provide a detailed statement within the framework of the integrity of my defense after the subsequent questions in the interrogation process are directed to me and I have become fully aware of all the accusations leveled against me." he said.

As part of the terror investigation conducted into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), detention warrants were issued for Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, İBB Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, Reform Institute President Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, Şişli Deputy Mayor Ebru Özdemir, former business partner Azad Barış, and his employee Hunav Altun. While four people, including İmamoğlu, were taken into custody as part of the operation, it was stated that Altun, Özdemir, and Barış are at large.

"HTS DATA WAS NOT SHOWN TO ME"

When asked about his contact with former HDP Co-Vice Chair Azad Barış and the existence of a shared cell tower record, Şahan said, "The HTS data cited as the basis for the question you asked me was not shown to me. I do not have any information at my disposal to verify the accuracy of the base station data. As has been the case in many investigation processes reflected in the public eye, I have serious doubts and concerns regarding the reliability of HTS technical data and the potential for negative inferences to be drawn due to the interpretation method used. For this reason, I will provide my detailed defense regarding this question during my prosecutor's statement."

DENIED THE ACCUSATIONS

It was learned that in his statement, Şahan did not accept the allegations against him and stated that the accusations were baseless. Rejecting the secret witness testimonies, Şahan said, "I have no connection with any terrorist organizations. I do not even know what the abbreviations of these organizations stand for. I have never acted under the instructions of any organization. Attempting to extract crimes or criminals from the election process is futile. I reject the accusations against me."

"I HAVE NO ACQUAINTANCE OR CONNECTION WITH TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS"

At the end of his statement, Şahan responded to the secret witness's claim regarding the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), which stated, 'They established the IPA to create a new bribery scheme. Resul Emrah Şahan primarily hired PKK sympathizers for personnel recruitment there.' Şahan stated, 'I do not accept the secret witness's statements regarding both the IPA and all other areas. As Mayor, my only concern is to deal with the real problems of Şişli and to contribute, even if only slightly, by working hard on solutions for the real problems of this city and this country. The Reform Institute is an objective think tank established to conduct intellectual work and research. I met Azad Barış during the 2019 process when he was an official of the HDP party, during his official meetings at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). Later, we reconnected through the fact that I am related to Azad's wife (not by blood); her aunt is a very valuable teacher who was very helpful to me during my studies in Ankara. I have no acquaintance, interest, or knowledge regarding the mentioned terrorist organizations or their members. I do not even know the full names of the abbreviations of the mentioned organizations. I do not accept the accusations made. I will provide my more detailed statement at the Prosecutor's Office.'