TRT awards Fatih Sultan Mehmet series contract to AKP figure who insulted Atatürk

TRT has awarded the contract for the Fatih Sultan Mehmet series to AKP figure Eyüp Gökhan Özekin, who insulted Atatürk on November 10.

HE HAD SAID "WE WOULD HAVE EXISTED EVEN IF HE HADN'T"

It has been announced that the person who won the filming contract for TRT's "Fatih Sultan Mehmet" series is AKP MKYK member Eyüp Gökhan Özekin, who used the phrase "We would have existed even if he hadn't" on November 10. In an advertisement published in Akit Newspaper on November 10, 2013, Özekin had used the phrase "We would have existed even if he hadn't" in reference to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Sözcü columnist İsmail Saymaz brought the issue of the contract awarded to Özekin to the agenda. Recalling Özekin's advertisement from 10 years ago, Saymaz wrote: "The businessman who placed an ad in Akit on the anniversary of Atatürk's death saying 'We would have existed even if he hadn't.' Özekin, a former chairman of the Alperen Hearths and an admirer of Said Nursi, became an AKP parliamentary candidate from Uşak in the second spot two years after the ad, but was not elected. On May 14, he was included in the list in Ankara's 1st District in the 10th spot, but again failed to win.

Currently an AKP Central Decision and Executive Board member, the Özekin family was involved in a battery incident last year. His wife, Şerife Özekin, along with her driver and an associate, allegedly raided a shopping mall and assaulted three young people, claiming they had spilled coffee on her daughter and pulled her hair.

While stating that Özekin will receive 19.8 million TL per episode from TRT for the "Fatih Sultan Mehmet" series, Saymaz noted the following details: "Eyüp Gökhan Özekin, as the owner of the 'Miray Yapım' company, works with TRT on documentary and series projects. Most recently, he reached an agreement for a 13-episode series titled 'Fatih Sultan Mehmet'. The series is planned to be broadcast on TRT 1 in the coming weeks. According to allegations... Özekin will be paid 19,800,000 TL per episode, and the total budget will be 257,400,000 TL. It is stated that Özekin has received 77,000,000 TL as an advance payment."

In a statement to Saymaz, Özekin admitted that he received the contract.