He had used the 'powdered sugar' defense: Verdict reached regarding Kürşat Ayvatoğlu

While working as an office employee at the AKP Headquarters, Kürşat Ayvatoğlu was filmed snorting a substance inside his vehicle in 2021. It was alleged that Ayvatoğlu was snorting cocaine. In his statement to the prosecutor's office, Ayvatoğlu said, "This substance is powdered sugar. We were just having fun in a friend's environment, listening to foreign music, pretending as if we were using drugs for the sake of a joke and imitation."

Ayvatoğlu's 'powdered sugar' claim became a major topic of discussion in Turkey. In a statement he made on March 28, 2021, Ayvatoğlu confessed to drug use, saying, "I was then dragged into a drug quagmire; the more I was drawn in, the more it pulled me, and I was swept away in a world where I ceased to be myself."

The AKP member, who was on trial due to these leaked images, has been acquitted. The Ankara 33rd High Criminal Court issued an acquittal for 5 defendants, including Ayvatoğlu, who is also a former employee of the Kastamonu Municipality.

WHAT DID AYVATOĞLU SAY IN THE STATEMENT HE MADE AFTER HIS POWDERED SUGAR REMARK?

Following the backlash over his "powdered sugar" remark, Ayvatoğlu made the following statement on his social media account:

RESPECTFULLY ANNOUNCED TO THE PUBLIC

This is the only official statement made by me, and I kindly request that you do not rely on statements made from other accounts.

I present this.

After my father passed away, I had to take on more responsibility for my family. I thought that if I appeared more powerful, every door would open. Now, I have been dragged into this situation, which I realize was very wrong. The effort to have more influence, to appear different than I am, to be seen alongside power, and to open new doors for myself by "taking photos" with powerful people in the government dragged me into another mistake every day. Yet, a person's own effort and struggle should be enough.

“I was then dragged into a drug quagmire; the more I was drawn in, the more it pulled me, and I was swept away in a world where I ceased to be myself. I thought about asking for help many times to get rid of this, but whenever I thought of my late father and my dear mother, I could never bring myself to tell anyone.

Right now, everyone has said all the bad things that needed to be said to me. Perhaps they will say more. Yet, there are hundreds of young people in my situation, many of them children of influential families. There are many young people like me who have lost their way and are drifting in this world.

“People who ruthlessly tear me down should know that you also have children, and we do not know what you will encounter in life. My dear mother is trying to bear all these bad days alone. I ask you to rethink what you have said so ruthlessly to a mother. Yes, I wish I had thought more about my mother, my late father, and myself from the very beginning.

I wish I could take my life back; I would not have fallen into these things. I am very sad; I feel like I am on the edge of death. I regret everything so much. I wish I could take my life back.

If I need to explain the images of my luxury lifestyle, yes, I was earning my living by buying and selling cars with my friends and receiving commissions from sales I made through car galleries. Actually, I do not have the kind of life I tried to show, but I tried to create it by constantly posting such pictures due to my psychology of wanting to appear different than I am. I see better now that this is a self-confidence issue, another psychological problem.

Even though I was involved in trade, I pushed all the conditions to get a job at the AKP Headquarters with the thought that if I were closer to political leaders, I would be more powerful. Even though I did not need it financially, I wanted to be there inside the Party. This way of thinking dragged me into bigger mistakes.

I first ask for forgiveness from God for doing such bad things to the body and soul He gave me, and I apologize to my mother, who had the weight of the world on her shoulders after my father's death and whose world I turned upside down with what I put her through, to all the members of the Ak Party, who became a bad tool and the target of all bad expressions due to my political cause, and to all of Turkey...

News Source: 12punto