Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney arrested

A new development has occurred in the investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).

Within the scope of the İBB investigation, 44 people, including Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney, were detained in the 9th wave of operations conducted on August 15.

The questioning of those referred to the courthouse by 11 prosecutors has concluded. Accordingly, while a request for judicial control was filed for 24 people, the arrest of 20 people, including İnan Güney, was requested.

ARREST DECISION FROM THE COURT

Of the 20 people referred to the 4th Criminal Court of Peace with a request for arrest, 17, including Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney, were arrested.

27 people were released under judicial control measures, including a ban on traveling abroad.

GÜNEY'S STATEMENT OBTAINED

On the other hand, the statement İnan Güney gave to the prosecutor's office has emerged.

İnan Güney's statement is as follows:

"After I was elected Mayor of Beyoğlu, Alican Abacı directed a person named Mustafa Mutlu, whom I also knew from the Beşiktaş Municipality, to me as a legal advisor. I gave him an office at the Beyoğlu Municipality, but Mustafa Mutlu did not have any official position. This person worked at the Beyoğlu Municipality in this capacity for about two months. During this period, Mustafa Mutlu was constantly insisting that I give work to Aziz İhsan Aktaş. During the period when the Beyoğlu Municipality vehicle tender was being held, I learned that he went to the holding company currently doing the vehicle work without my knowledge and lied by saying, 'The Mayor does not want you to enter the tender.' After learning this, I stated through my deputy mayor that anyone who wishes and meets the specifications can enter this tender.

I told Mustafa Mutlu every time to do his job, saying to him, 'Did you come here to provide legal consultancy or to secure work for Aziz İhsan Aktaş?' I repeatedly told him that he should not insist on issues that do not concern him, and at the end of two months, I had the door of my office at the Beyoğlu Municipality opened by a locksmith, had his belongings collected, and had the person removed from the municipality. After I had this person removed from the municipality, the individuals named Alican Abacı and Aziz İhsan Aktaş bore a grudge against me. In fact, Aziz İhsan Aktaş made many threats against me through Ozan İş.

Murat Kapki, who made statements against me, was introduced to me by Alican Abacı while he was working at Beşiktaş Municipality's BELTAŞ. Alican Abacı suggested that I give advertising work to Murat Kapki. When I rejected this offer, Murat Kapki bore a grudge against me. To summarize, the individuals who made statements against me have made such statements because they bear a grudge against me. Statements such as 'Even though İnan Güney is the Mayor of Beyoğlu, he was managing BELTAŞ, a subsidiary of Beşiktaş Municipality' are included in the statements of Alican Abacı, Mustafa Mutlu, and Murat Kapki. Thus, it is seen that these individuals are slandering me in the same direction and in the same language. I do not have any authority in the organization of the mentioned tender or the preparation of its specifications. I left my position at BELTAŞ in November 2023. Therefore, I had no authority in the tender held by the Beşiktaş Municipality in 2024. I did not attend meetings regarding the tender. Towards the end of 2024, when I was just paying a courtesy visit to Rıza Akpolat, the individuals named Alican Abacı and Mustafa Mutlu came to his office later. In this way, I witnessed their conversations about the tender. Alican Abacı and Mustafa Mutlu made an offer to Rıza Akpolat to award this advertising tender and, in return, to pay off the debts of the Beşiktaş Municipality. Rıza Akpolat did not accept this offer, saying, 'It will be tendered to whoever gives the highest bid.'

I do not have any official or unofficial company that I am a partner in regarding outdoor advertising media. During my term as Mayor of Beyoğlu, no leasing was done regarding the advertising media under our auspices. These media are used for public service. If I had an interest and trade related to outdoor advertising media, it would be expected that I would have had an activity related to this during my one-and-a-half-year mayoral term. When looking at the total of advertising work given during my tenure at BELTAŞ, it will be seen that the majority continued with the firms that were there when I took office. The advertising volume that Serkan Öztürk received is very, very low when looking at the total. As alleged, I do not have any official or unofficial partnership with Serkan Öztürk. The claim that he is my 'treasury' is completely hypothetical and slanderous. The most important proof of this is that Serkan Öztürk did not receive any work from the Beyoğlu Municipality during my term as Mayor of Beyoğlu. In fact, Serkan Öztürk himself has clearly stated that he did not provide any benefit to me."

News Source: 12punto