CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik's two-hour police statement: 'An attempt is being made to undermine the congress'

The statement given by Çelik to the police as part of an investigation into allegations of election fraud in the provincial chairmanship election in exchange for benefits has been obtained.

The investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the latest CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress, based on allegations of "election fraud and violation of the Law on Political Parties," is ongoing.

Özgür Çelik went to the Istanbul Financial Crimes Investigation Branch yesterday to give a statement following an instruction issued as part of the investigation.

In his statement, Çelik noted that he was elected provincial chair at the CHP's provincial congress on October 8, 2023.

When asked to provide information regarding the congress process, Çelik said, "I served as a district chair in the CHP for nearly 6 years. I was re-elected as district chair during the 38th ordinary congress period. In the process leading up to this congress, 26 of the 39 elected district chairs wanted to see one of their own as the provincial chair. Our 26 district chairs nominated me for the provincial chairmanship following an evaluation among themselves. I was elected chair with the favor of our esteemed provincial delegates."

Çelik was asked about the contents of a statement given by Veli Gümüş, the former Beykoz Municipality Private Secretary and a detained defendant in a case opened by the Beykoz Municipality regarding alleged illegalities involving the procurement of certain goods and services, municipal personnel, and company officials participating in tender processes.

In his statement, Gümüş claimed that Çelik had called him and asked for his support in the Istanbul Ordinary Congress, saying, "Look, we are from the same hometown. You need to support me. You have your elder brother Fahrettin in Beşiktaş. Have a meeting with him."

Stating that he reported the situation to District Chair Mahir Taştan because he was serving in the Beykoz CHP District Organization at the time, Gümüş said that Taştan warned him not to go to this meeting alone, and that he subsequently went to Beşiktaş with provincial delegate Uğur Gökdemir to meet with the person named Fahrettin Çırak.

ALLEGATION OF A 100 THOUSAND LIRA OFFER FOR A VOTE

Gümüş alleged, "During this meeting, Çırak stated that they were the ones who made Özgür Çelik a candidate, asked what young men like us were doing next to the elderly, said we should vote for Özgür Çelik, and that Özgür Çelik and Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat wanted him to be there, and offered 100 thousand TL per person."

Explaining that they asked for a total of 750 thousand TL as two people to see how far the money offer would go, and that they recorded the meeting, Gümüş stated, "In the time frame before the audio recording started, Fahrettin Çırak had already disclosed the amount of money he intended to give us. I understood that he would give this money under the direction of Özgür Çelik, especially since the person who called me on the phone was Çelik himself. After leaving there, we went to our Beykoz District Chair Mahir Taştan and handed over the audio recording. I know that Chairman Mahir gave this recording to the then-Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu. I also know that Ms. Canan forwarded this recording to the then-Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu."

Regarding this statement by Gümüş, Özgür Çelik stated that he had called all 600 provincial delegates one by one when he became a candidate at the congress, saying, "I used similar expressions to every delegate I called. I asked for support from the delegates by stating that Cemal Canpolat, with whom we were competing in the congress, had previously served as provincial chair, that he was a valuable elder of ours, that I was younger, that I would run faster, that I would represent the party better, and that I would carry out a more successful process by combining my 6 years of district chairmanship experience with my young energy. I made these calls in a normal manner. I did not make a call via FaceTime."

"GÜMÜŞ IS ON THE LOSING SIDE OF THE CONGRESS"

Çelik stated that he had never seen Veli Gümüş face-to-face and that he had no special acquaintance with him during the congress period, and that he made a standard call from the list he had because he was a candidate.

Noting that he was familiar with the name when Gümüş was detained in the Beykoz operation, Çelik said, "We see that those who have been detained and arrested recently are trying to get out of prison with various slanders. Moreover, Veli Gümüş is a candidate for management on the list of Cemal Canpolat, who was my rival in the Istanbul congress, and is on the losing side of the congress. Furthermore, it is clearly seen from his own statements that his claims are lies and slander."

Using the expression, "It is aimed to undermine the Istanbul Provincial Congress with the statements of a name who is on the list that lost the congress," Çelik argued that Fahrettin Çırak is a CHP council member and that he did not have a meeting with this person that would affect the congress processes.

When asked about the allegation by journalist T.E., whose statement was taken as part of the file, that there were irregularities in the main congress held in November 2023, Çelik stated that he did not know this person, that the allegations contained ambiguity, and that he therefore did not find it appropriate to make an assessment.

Çelik, who was shown the mutual dialogues of 3 people in an expert report prepared regarding an audio recording that entered the file, argued that he had no connection with the dialogues in which his and Cemal Canpolat's names were mentioned and bargaining was made for various amounts.

News Source: 12punto