Hasan İmamoğlu breaks silence after search of his land in Balıkesir

In the investigation targeting CHP's imprisoned presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, gendarmerie and military units conducted a search on the land in the Güre neighborhood of Balıkesir's Edremit district, where his father, Hasan İmamoğlu, spends his summers.

Hasan İmamoğlu, who saw soldiers, civilian officials, and construction equipment with detectors at the entrance of the land he purchased approximately seven years ago, described what he experienced to Saygı Öztürk from Sözcü:

“I asked the military official, 'Is everything alright? Is there something wrong?' He said, 'Yes, there is a report about you. A decision has been issued to search your land. We are going to conduct a search.' The whole place is just dirt and rocks. I asked if there was anything they wanted to ask me. When they said there wasn't, I left and went home.”

During the search, which lasted nearly two hours, he was informed that a well had been found on the property. Hasan İmamoğlu expressed this situation with the following words:

“It turns out there was a well on the land. I swear I only learned there was a well there because they told me. I don't know where they learned there was a well there, how they learned it, or why they learned it. They came and searched the well. They put an underground detector into the well. In other words, they tried to attribute something to us that someone else might have done themselves. I don't know if there is anything there or not. They will send us the report. I will look at the report to see what is there. It's such an absurd thing. It's even beyond absurd.”

"ARE FETÖ TACTICS BEING APPLIED AGAIN?"

Drawing attention to the land's past zoning process, Hasan İmamoğlu reminded that the area where the well is located had been transferred to the municipality as a green space in the zoning plan, and said that such practices resemble the FETÖ era:

“During the FETÖ era, they worked to discredit the people they targeted. I am of the opinion that what FETÖ did is being done today as well. It's such an absurd thing. Believe me, there is no consideration for law, order, dignity, or honor. The arrival of the military there, conducting a search as if there were something secret or hidden on İmamoğlu's land, and even making a spectacle of it is, in itself, an embarrassment to the community. If this were a normal country, those who ordered this would be punished, in my opinion.”

Stating, “We would never consent to our country ceasing to be a normal country,” Hasan İmamoğlu recalled that their home had been searched previously and added, “Even if they found something in the field, they would pin it on us. Searching there implies that there is something hidden or secret there. This is an extremely distressing situation.”

MASAK REPORT LABELED MONEY SENT TO GRANDSON AS 'SOURCE UNKNOWN'

Hasan İmamoğlu stated that his bank accounts were seized and his credit cards were closed following the recent leak of a MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) report to the press. He noted that the money he sent to his grandson was listed in the report as “source unknown”:

“I read on Thursday in a newspaper close to the government that a new MASAK report had been released and what the report contained. I went to the bank on Friday. My bank accounts had been seized, and my credit cards had been closed. Well, what is this? They said it was suspended temporarily. In the MASAK report, officially, it appears as if I sent money to my grandson. What is it? They say it is 'money with an unknown source.' In other words, the money that went to Ekrem Bey's eldest son. Why should the source be unknown? The source is me. I sent the money. His mother also sent some. So, there is nothing there.”

Hasan İmamoğlu evaluated this process as an “effort to prolong the case.”

“THEY EVEN ARRESTED HIS LAWYER”

Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, was arrested on charges of “attempting to access statements.” The arrest took place following the testimony of a confessor. Ekrem İmamoğlu had said the following in a statement after these developments:

“When they had the lawyer arrested with new confessions and the detentions began, I said, 'I am calling out to my friends: sign the fabricated slander documents placed before you; I will carry the burden alone.'”

Hasan İmamoğlu stated that he found this statement “very appropriate and protective,” adding, “In my opinion, it is a good statement, a good way of standing by his friends. I appreciated it very much. He knows, and everyone knows, that there is no truth to the accusations against him. Ekrem Bey's statement is also good.”

“HE IS TRYING NOT TO LET HIS MORALE DROP”

Hasan İmamoğlu, who visits his son frequently, said he leaves prison visits in tears while describing the effort his son makes to keep his morale high:

“I know he is working harder than he was when he was outside. Those who visit him say the same thing. They are trying to hinder his work. You know they arrested his lawyer. What more can you do in a country where a lawyer is arrested?”

Finally, when asked what his son said to him after the visit, he noted:

“Like every father whose child is in prison, I say, 'May God grant him salvation. If everyone has someone, we have God,' and I leave. May everything be for the best.”

News Source: 12punto