Valide-i Cedid Soup Kitchen turned into a restaurant! Tender awarded to a key figure in the 'Lost Trillion' case!

The historical Valide-i Cedid Soup Kitchen, built in Üsküdar in 1708, has been converted into a restaurant.

The historical structure, which is owned by the General Directorate of Foundations and was built 316 years ago to "provide food to those arriving from out of town, travelers, the poor, and the destitute," was opened in January.

The opening was attended by numerous AKP members, including the then-AKP Mayor of Üsküdar, Hilmi Türkmen, and the AKP Mayor of Beykoz, Murat Aydın.

According to a report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; the General Directorate of Foundations held a tender for the historical structure using the build-operate-transfer model, and Bilgen İnşaat, which won the tender, converted the soup kitchen into a restaurant.

HE SENT SOMEONE ELSE TO PRISON IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY!

Mustafa Bilgen, the owner of Bilgen İnşaat, to whom the historical structure was handed over, had left his mark on an era.

Bilgen, the former Erzurum Provincial Chairman of the now-defunct Welfare Party (Refah Partisi), was one of the key figures in the "Lost Trillion Case." Bilgen, who also managed water, electricity, and natural gas meter reading operations in many major cities, primarily İGDAŞ and İSKİ, as well as the main arterial cleaning works on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, was required to serve 5 months and 20 days in prison according to the execution law.

According to reports in the press in 2007, Bilgen was to serve his 5-month and 20-day prison sentence at the Manavgat Prison.

On January 10, 2007, someone surrendered claiming to be "Bilgen." 25 days later, it was determined that he had sent an auto mechanic named Günay Halıcıoğlu, to whom he had given 850 TL, to prison in his place.

THE PROSECUTOR REALIZED IT FROM THE PHOTO IN THE FILE

A report in the Sabah newspaper at the time described the scandal as follows:

"A person who came to the Manavgat district of Antalya and applied to the execution prosecutor's office said he wanted to serve his sentence, introducing himself as Mustafa Bilgen. After the correspondence, the person claiming to be Bilgen was arrested by the execution prosecutor and sent to prison. Meanwhile, Execution Prosecutor Ramazan H. wrote to the Ankara 9th High Criminal Court and brought Bilgen's file. The prosecutor noticed that the person he had arrested did not resemble the photo in the file. When he looked at Bilgen's date of birth and saw that he was 53 years old, the prosecutor remembered that the person he had arrested was around 35, thus uncovering the fraud. It was explained that the person who said he was Mustafa Bilgen was an ex-convict named Günay Halıcıoğlu, and that he had agreed to go to prison after being promised financial aid for his family in difficult circumstances and receiving 850 TL in pocket money by Rasim Kalender, whom he met in prison, and that he had surrendered to the prosecutor's office after spending two days on vacation in Antalya with Rasim Kalender, Mustafa Bilgen, and his son Hüseyin Bilgen."

HE HAS A BOOK ON MORALITY

Bilgen, who is stated to have "sent his stunt double to prison," also has a book titled "High Islamic Morality." In the preface of his book, Bilgen describes "justice" as follows: "It is spiritual balance and maturity that occurs with consistent righteousness, unaffected by the random requests and directions of others..."

HE SAID "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS"

Hüseyin Bilgen, the son of Mustafa Bilgen from Bilgen İnşaat, stated in his explanation: "We built this area with the build-operate-transfer model. This is something between us and the General Directorate of Foundations. Why does it concern you? What concerns you? What is it to you... This is not something that concerns you. There are courts, there are prosecutors..."