Criminal complaint filed by Üsküdar Municipality against former mayor Hilmi Türkmen

The Üsküdar Mayor's Office has filed a criminal complaint against former Mayor Hilmi Türkmen on charges of "multiple counts of abuse of office" and "rigging the performance of a contract." The criminal complaint was submitted to the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

The application recalled that former AKP mayor Hilmi Türkmen served as the Mayor of Üsküdar between 2014 and 2024. The complaint drew attention to the "Revenue-Sharing Construction Contract in Exchange for Land Sale" signed on October 13, 2016, with Kalyon İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (the Contractor) regarding a property owned by the Üsküdar Municipality.

According to the contract, the contractor was to build a project on the municipal land in accordance with zoning regulations, and the revenue generated from the sale of the resulting residential units, offices, commercial spaces, and shops was to be shared, with 45 percent going to the municipality and 55 percent to the contractor.

The application stated that the contractor committed to completing the construction in 750 days and guaranteed a total payment of 395 million 325 thousand lira plus VAT to the municipality on specified payment dates.

REQUEST FOR CONTRACT AMENDMENT AND PUBLIC LOSS

After making the first payment, the contractor applied to the municipality on April 6, 2017, to extend the construction period and postpone the payment dates. With the approval of Hilmi Türkmen, the construction period was extended from 750 days to 1270 days, and it was decided to push back the payment dates. The application, which stated that these changes resulted in public loss, alleged that the amendments signed before a notary on May 10, 2017, caused public loss by deferring the municipality's receivables without demanding interest.

A NEW AMENDMENT REQUEST

In a new application to the municipality on January 17, 2019, the contractor requested further substantial changes to the contract. With Türkmen's approval, the work period was extended from 1270 days to 2270 days, and the payment deadlines were rearranged.

The petition stated that if the contract amendments had not been made, all of the municipality's receivables would have been paid, but as a result of the changes, the municipality was unable to collect its dues.

WAIVER OF MUNICIPAL RECEIVABLES

The application stated that the municipality deferred 135 million 896 thousand 250 lira in receivables without demanding interest and waived 18 million 043 thousand lira in receivables. As a result, it was alleged that a large amount of public loss occurred and that former Mayor Hilmi Türkmen, who caused this loss, abused his office and rigged the performance of the contract.

Furthermore, it was noted that sales were made based on low prices in the real estate valuation report, and that this report was prepared by a valuation company located at the same address as the contractor. It was stated that the sales transactions were carried out under the contractor's discretion rather than on behalf of the municipality, and that the municipality remained insufficient in tracking its revenues.

The petition requested the prosecution of Hilmi Türkmen and other responsible individuals regarding the transactions that caused a large amount of public loss.