Suspect in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan case: Former AKP provincial executive received no-bid contracts from Bodrum Municipality

Documents have emerged showing that Barış Kurt, a former AKP Ankara Provincial Executive currently in custody as part of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization investigation—which caused an earthquake within the Ankara Police Department—received no-bid contracts from the Bodrum Municipality.

According to a report by Gazete Duvar, it was learned that Kurt received four different planning contracts from the municipality between 2022 and 2023 through the direct procurement method.

In the planning contract signed between Barış Kurt's own firm, ASL Müşavirlik Mühendislik Mimarlık Ltd. Şti., and the Bodrum Municipality for the Müskebi-Yahşi-Gürece-Yaka neighborhoods, the following statement was included: “The provisions contained in this document cover the research, analysis, creation of planning decisions, reports, and plan provisions, and explanatory work for the preparation of the Conservation-Oriented Master Zoning Plan Revision and Conservation-Oriented Implementation Zoning Plan Revision in the Müskebi, Yahşi, Gürece, and Yaka neighborhoods of the Bodrum district of Muğla Province, as well as the features and qualities of the Conservation-Oriented Zoning Plans to be made in the protected areas specified and to be determined in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Property No. 2863.”

It was also learned that Kurt's company received planning work for the Yalıkavak, Gündoğan, and Bitez neighborhoods from the Bodrum Municipality through the direct procurement method. It was learned that the primary authority for zoning in these neighborhoods lies with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.

KANAL İSTANBUL CONNECTION

The firm that signed the zoning plan study file prepared by Kurt's company is based in Konya. Marka Şehircilik Mimarlık İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. is also the firm that prepared the zoning plans for Kanal Istanbul, which were later canceled by the CHP-led Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

CAPTURED IN NOVEMBER 2023

Barış Kurt, who served as an AKP Ankara Provincial Vice President and a member of the Çankaya Municipal Council, is also a map engineer. Barış Kurt was captured on November 10, 2023, at his hideout in Ankara while being sought as a fugitive as part of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

TRUSTEE APPOINTED TO HIS COMPANY AFTER ARREST

The name of Kurt, who is being tried while in custody, appeared in the statements of Erkan Doğan, who claimed to have been tortured by Kaplan. Following Barış Kurt's arrest, a trustee was appointed to his company.

News Source: 12punto