İdris Naim Şahin responds to claims regarding vehicle with emergency lights: 'It was used without my knowledge'

Former Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin has issued a statement regarding allegations that two individuals sought as part of an investigation into Alihan Kuriş, the leader of the Süleymancılar community, were transported to Marmaris in a vehicle with emergency lights rented in his name.

Responding to questions from BBC Türkçe, Şahin stated that the vehicle in question was used without his knowledge. Explaining that he lives in Ankara and rented the vehicle to use when he travels to Istanbul, Şahin noted that he had an agreement for the vehicle to be kept in a parking garage during periods when he was not using it.

Şahin noted that he does not know Hilmi Tuna Kuriş and Erhan Yılmaz, and that he learned from the press that the vehicle had been used to transport these individuals. The former minister also announced that he has filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the company from which he rented the vehicle.

It was previously announced that as part of the investigation, Alihan Kuriş's brother, Hilmi Tuna Kuriş, and Erhan Yılmaz were apprehended in Bozburun, a district of Marmaris in Muğla, while attempting to flee abroad. It was alleged that the two individuals were taken from Istanbul to Bozburun in a vehicle equipped with emergency lights.

It was reported that Yasin Kaya, who was stated to have acted as the driver for the pair's trip to Marmaris, has been arrested on charges of "aiding and abetting a criminal."

According to investigation sources, the process in Marmaris began with the monitoring of a GSM line that was activated on the day of the operation, August 13, and was found to be connected to an internet subscription registered in the name of Erhan Yılmaz. It was alleged that the line was deactivated in Kadıköy, Istanbul, on August 15, and signaled in Muğla on August 16; a comparison with license plate recognition system records reportedly determined that the vehicle with emergency lights had traveled to Muğla.

In the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Alihan Kuriş is accused of establishing a criminal organization. Of the 38 people detained in the operations carried out on August 13, 32 were arrested on August 16. It was reported that Kuriş denied the accusations in his statement and described the investigation as an "assassination of reputation."

İdris Naim Şahin, who was among the founders of the AK Party, served as Minister of the Interior between 2011 and 2013. Şahin later left his party; he was the Saadet Party's candidate for Mayor of Ordu Metropolitan Municipality in 2019, and in 2023, he was the first-rank parliamentary candidate for Ordu from the İYİ Party.