Yerlikaya responds to Özgür Özel on 'jammer' and 'camera taping' claims: 'It is a vile slander'

On social media and in some media outlets, footage of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was recently arrested, from a hotel meeting in Beşiktaş had been circulated, leading to various allegations.

In the footage dated October 12, it was seen that İmamoğlu was entering and exiting a hotel with bodyguards carrying suitcases, and that İmamoğlu's bodyguard, Çağlar Türkmen, had covered a security camera with tape.

While CHP officials stated that the suitcases seen in the footage, which also entered the investigation file, contained signal-blocking jammers, the bodyguard Çağlar Türkmen, who was detained in the second wave of the operation conducted as part of the investigation into "financial crimes" against the IMM, stated in his police testimony that taping security cameras was a routine practice and that he had not received instructions from anyone to perform this action.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, in his statement on the subject, had said, "Whatever jammer is used for Erdoğan, the same is used for İmamoğlu." Özel noted that jammers and covering cameras were routine practices for police bodyguards.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had responded, "Our protection officers do not have such a practice. It is not possible. Covering a security camera with tape at a hotel you are visiting is an act of audacity. None of our protection police officers would do such a thing."

PUT A TAPE OVER YERLIKAYA'S EYES IN HIS PHOTO

The "jammer" and "tape" debate was also on the agenda today for Özgür Özel, who came to the Çağlayan Courthouse to follow the trial where Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ is being tried on charges of "insulting the President." Attacking Minister Yerlikaya with harsh expressions, Özel said, "Ali Yerlikaya, put tape over your mouth and do not speak again on a subject you do not know. Put a tape over the eyes in Ali Yerlikaya's photo so he is not recognized and his relatives are not ashamed." Özel continued, "The man who, during his time as Istanbul Governor, assigned police to protect the mafia nurtured by the AK Party and MHP, and who worked to ensure the current Üsküdar Square did not end up like this and remained in the hands of the mafia, has become the Interior Minister. Woe to us! Woe to us!"

"WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS A VILE SLANDER"

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya responded to CHP leader Özel's words on his social media account. Stating, "Let me make a 'special' (Özel) explanation for you so you can understand better," Yerlikaya noted the following:

"One… Our close protection police officers have no duty to cover cameras with tape.

Two… None of them, including the police officers protecting you, carry tape in their pockets.

Three… #TapeUser… What you are saying is a vile slander.

No matter which camera you tape over, the heart's eye of our nation is recording what is happening."