Testimony of Berkant Acil, brother of Haluk Levent, included in the file for the Şile Municipality investigation

The police statement of Berkant Acil, the owner of the company Koşan Adam, who was arrested as part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the Şile Municipality, has been added to the case file.

Acil, who is the brother of artist Haluk Levent, claimed that they had no authority in the municipal tender or payment stages regarding the 35th International Şile Cloth Culture and Art Festival, and that they only provided consultancy on artist organization.

In his statement, Acil stated that he only knew Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı due to his official duties and argued that he had no commercial relationship with the municipality. Stating that his company has not participated in any public tender to date, Acil said, "The Koşan Adam company does not have the authority to enter tenders. We are only a consultancy firm that organizes artists."

Explaining that municipal officials sought information from them before the festival, Acil said he told them they could only provide artist services and that artist fees had to be paid in advance. According to Acil, Sur Müzik was later agreed upon as the company that would bear the financial burden of the organization.

Stating that they made a commission agreement with Sur Müzik, Acil said, "We only carried out the concert organization. We had no role in the tender process or the payment stages."

DENIED PAYMENT ALLEGATIONS

Berkant Acil argued that they coordinated the procurement of artists and their stage appearances within the scope of the festival, and that no payments were made to artists or presenters by their company. Stating that company employee Arif Sevik also worked with different companies as an organizer, Acil explained that he conducted the initial meetings with some artists, while Sevik, who was authorized on behalf of Sur Müzik, conducted others.

Acil said, "It is out of the question for the Koşan Adam company to make any payments to any artist or presenter. This situation will also be seen in the company's account movements."

In the expert report in the investigation file, Acil was also asked about the finding that there was a difference of approximately 20 million 858 thousand liras between the price paid by the municipality for the festival and the payments made to the artists. Claiming that the fees of the artists in the official contracts did not reflect the truth, Acil said, "The contractor company, Sur Müzik, paid the remaining portion to the musicians in cash."

Touching on the money movements in the company accounts in his statement, Acil argued that most of the transactions stemmed from commercial activities. Regarding the 1.5 million dollar money transfer in the file, he said that Haluk Levent asked for the money in question to be kept in the company account for one day and then sent to Yeliz Kaya's account.

Stating that he carried out the transaction in line with this instruction, Acil expressed that he knew the money was reported to the tax office, but that he had no information about how it was used afterwards.

Denying all the accusations against him, Berkant Acil argued that the money transfers between him and his family were natural. Claiming that his meetings with Yeliz Kaya were related to "courtesy checks" given to Haluk Levent, Acil said, "I do not accept any of the accusations. All the allegations against me are untrue."