First statement from the lawyer of Ahmet Aktaş, brother of the Deputy Minister of Interior

CHP Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, who had been in custody for 4 days on charges of "membership in a criminal organization," "rigging a tender," and "unjust enrichment," was arrested along with 23 other suspects, including Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who is alleged to be the leader of the criminal organization, Beşiktaş Deputy Mayor Alican Abacı, and Önder Gedik, Chairman of Beşiktaş Municipality's BELTAŞ Management Industry and Trade Inc.

Following the completion of procedures at the duty judgeship, 17 suspects, including Beşiktaş Deputy Mayor Esra Yenidünya, Ahmet Aktaş (brother of Deputy Minister of Interior Mehmet Aktaş), Erdal Kavak, Fatih Alpkaya, Ferhat Keleş, Mehmet Ertaç Aydın, Mustafa Us, Özcan Tunçel, and Ömer Güngör, were released under judicial control conditions.

STATEMENT FROM AKTAŞ'S LAWYER

Pehlivan issued a written statement regarding his client, Ahmet Aktaş, who was released after being taken into custody as part of the investigation into the criminal organization in which 23 suspects, including Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat and the alleged organization leader Aziz İhsan Aktaş, were arrested.

Stating that various news reports about Aktaş have appeared in the press as part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Pehlivan expressed that he wanted to bring certain matters to the attention of the press and the public to prevent misinformation, in light of the importance of accurate reporting.

Noting that Aktaş graduated from the Fırat University Faculty of Fisheries Engineering in 2001, Pehlivan said, "He has been working as a fisheries engineer at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality since 2006. He has not worked as a tea server or waiter as alleged in the press. Our client, who is married and a father of two, leads a modest life. This situation is also proven by the asset declaration he submitted to his institution on January 7, 2025."

"HIS ONLY CONNECTION IS A SIGNATURE"

Pehlivan stated that Aktaş was elected as a board member on July 3, 2024, to Beltaş Beşiktaş Municipality Management Industry and Trade Inc., a subsidiary of Beşiktaş Municipality mentioned in the investigation, and noted the following:

"The only connection our client has to the event subject to the investigation is his signature on a board decision that allowed the sale of real estate due to the company's debts at Beltaş A.Ş. In the subsequent process, our client did not take part in the sales process that forms the basis of the investigation, was not on the tender commission, and had no meetings with the aforementioned suspects involved in these processes. There is no kinship relationship with the other company-owner suspects mentioned in the investigation, and the situation consists solely of a similarity in surnames."

Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat was arrested, and the prosecution's charges were revealed: "Included in the hierarchical structure of the criminal organization, the organization's most intense activity is with the Beşiktaş Municipality"

"NO DIFFERENT TREATMENT"

Stating that the allegations that his client's wife "called his workplace and requested a week of leave" one day before he was taken into custody are baseless, Pehlivan said, "Because our client was taken into custody by law enforcement officers in the early hours of January 13, and the residence where he lives with his family was searched. On the same date, upon his colleagues calling his wife around 10:54 AM because our client did not go to work, his wife requested that our client be granted a week of leave."

Pehlivan noted that his client, who was taken into custody along with 47 suspects, was referred to the Criminal Court of Peace on January 16 with a request for judicial control along with 7 other people, including another board member, and that after the completion of the detention interrogations of the other suspects, 12 suspects, including his client, were released in the early hours of the morning under judicial control conditions.

Lawyer Pehlivan stated, "Throughout the investigation process, our client was subjected to the procedures required by the investigation along with all other suspects. Other suspects also witnessed that no different treatment was applied. News reports giving the impression that our client was the 'only suspect released under judicial control' do not reflect the truth."

News Source: 12punto