Ramazan Gülten writes a letter from Silivri Prison: Striking details about the investigation!

Ramazan Gülten, the Head of the IMM Zoning and Urban Planning Department, who was detained on April 26 and arrested on April 30 on bribery charges during the second wave of operations targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), wrote a letter from Silivri Prison, where he is being held.

In his letter, Gülten provided important details regarding the investigation process and stated that the IMM has been audited in more detail between 2019 and 2025 than ever before.

Gülten, who was injured in an attack during the demolition of illegal cafes on the Üsküdar coast in 2023, stated in his letter: "We are the ones who work day and night to make this city fairer, greener, and more creative; who sacrifice time that we could have spent with ourselves and our families to try to prepare Istanbul for an earthquake; and who protect the city's squares, parks, and coasts from those who usurp them and turn them into commercial enterprises by relying on their uncles, aunts, and older brothers, even at the cost of being exposed to a thousand difficulties, obstacles, and even attacks. Who are we, who demolish illegal structures that have been ignored for years and turn those areas into public spaces that our people can use with safety, peace, and happiness? The list continues, starting with our mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who gave us this opportunity, and including Gürkan Akgün, Tayfun Kahraman, Buğra Gökçe, Resul Emrah Şahan, Nazan Başelli, Hakan Aplak..."

"We have not been people chasing personal ambition. We are not among those who lose their minds when they see figures with many zeros," said Gülten, adding, "As people of merit, we will continue to do our jobs properly, to defend Istanbul, and to protect the interests of our people. Because we love our country, our people, and Istanbul very much."

The full text of Gülten's letter is as follows:

"To the public,

My dear people; my detention process, which began at 06:00 on Saturday, April 26, concluded with an arrest warrant at 05:00 on Wednesday, April 30, one hour before the four-day maximum detention period expired. Now I am speaking to you from my cell in Silivri.

I was brought to the Vatan Police Headquarters with the operation carried out on April 26, and I was only able to see the accusation against me at the end of the third day. When I saw the accusation, what I said was: The prosecutor of the investigation must have fallen victim to a great deception.

Because, in previous years, complaints regarding advertising space were examined by an inspector. The inspector requested permission to investigate the persons subject to the investigation on the grounds that they caused public loss. Permission for the investigation was also granted by the Minister of Interior of the time. Subsequently, the decision of the Minister of Interior was taken to court at the Council of State, the highest authority in administrative jurisdiction. The relevant chamber of the Council of State decided that the inspector's report was subjective, was not based on sufficient research, that similar transactions had been made in tenders and transactions carried out in previous years, and that the works, which were a continuation of the works carried out before 2019, were in accordance with laws and regulations.

Both the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its affiliates were audited by the Court of Accounts between 2019 and 2025 in more detail than they were before 2019. Reports were prepared regarding these audits. In these reports, there is not even the slightest evaluation regarding the tenders that are directed at us as a crime. However, the inspector who requested the investigation did something else. He gave his report to the prosecutor's office. In matters where the word 'tender' is mentioned, he held everyone responsible for the amounts with many zeros in that report, regardless of their duty, whether they were bureaucrats, public officials, or company officials, who participated in, would participate in, or thought about participating in the tender.

We, the IMM bureaucrats, are members of the municipal council. The council is a legal body that takes decisions on behalf of the mayor, such as implementation decisions, administrative fine decisions, open tenders that must be held in the council, land sales, zoning implementations, and demolition decisions. Council members are accused of causing public loss regarding a tender held in a company outside the council. The only common word in the two different areas is the word 'tender'. There is no error in the analogy... The investigation prosecutor, looking at the baseless referral report in his hand, said, 'There is a black seed inside the apple, and there is a black seed inside the watermelon. Then the apple is a watermelon, it is sweet and juicy.' However, the apple we have, with the reports of the Council of State and the Court of Accounts, is neither sweet nor juicy. On the contrary, it is a tart apple forgotten on the branch. Because all the foundations of the case were thrown into the trash like the core of an apple years ago by the two high judicial bodies of our legal system, the Council of State and the Court of Accounts.

With the economic dimension of the advertising sector, the shares allocated by companies for advertising, and budgets of millions and billions of liras/dollars, another perception is being tried to be created in the eyes of people. Into this case, like the warning 'This series contains product placement' that we see in TV series, false and political calculations contrary to the functioning of the state have been inserted.

We are the ones who work day and night to make this city fairer, greener, and more creative; who sacrifice time that we could have spent with ourselves and our families to try to prepare Istanbul for an earthquake; and who protect the city's squares, parks, and coasts from those who usurp them and turn them into commercial enterprises by relying on their uncles, aunts, and older brothers, even at the cost of being exposed to a thousand difficulties, obstacles, and even attacks. Who are we, who demolish illegal structures that have been ignored for years and turn those areas into public spaces that our people can use with safety, peace, and happiness? The list continues, starting with our mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who gave us this opportunity, and including Gürkan Akgün, Tayfun Kahraman, Buğra Gökçe, Resul Emrah Şahan, Nazan Başelli, Hakan Aplak...

In conclusion...

The 'Guardians of Istanbul', who defend the city's public spaces, water basins, agricultural lands, and forest areas against rent, plunder, and the 'Kanal' project, have been prevented from performing their duties within the framework of the requirements of the law with such baseless accusations.

We will continue to do our best to solve the zoning problems in the city's poor neighborhoods that have been ignored, deceived, and wanted to be exiled until today—Yeşilkent, Çiğdem, Gülsuyu, Gülensu, Başıbüyük, Adem Yavuz, Bulgurlu, Topselvi, Gürpınar, Reşitpaşa, Hisarüstü, Gençosman, Habipler, Beştelsiz, Yayalar, Sanayi Mahallesi, and the Adalar—together with the residents of the neighborhoods, and to ensure that our people live in safer buildings.

We will continue to fight against illegal structures built on the Üsküdar Coast, Kadıköy Square, Fındıklı Park, Fatih Archaeological Park, Büyükçekmece Coast, agricultural lands in Çatalca, the Sazlıdere Water Basin, and forests in Şile.

In other words, we will continue to do what we do best: managing the city together with the citizens, observing the public interest, and working in line with the interests of our people. We have not been people chasing personal ambition. We are not among those who lose their minds when they see figures with many zeros. As people of merit, we will continue to do our jobs properly, to defend Istanbul, and to protect the interests of our people. Because we love our country, our people, and Istanbul very much.

Hoping to see you soon, let us meet in brighter days."

News Source: 12punto