Testimony of Ebru Özdemir, arrested in 'terrorism' investigation into Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, obtained: 'I have no acquaintance'

The investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against 7 suspects, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was removed from his post as Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality following his arrest in a 'corruption' investigation, İBB Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and Resul Emrah Şahan, who was removed from his post as Mayor of Şişli, on charges of 'aiding the PKK/KCK terrorist organization' is ongoing.

In her testimony to the prosecutor's office, suspect Şişli Deputy Mayor Ebru Özdemir, who was arrested for 'aiding a terrorist organization' as part of the investigation, answered "No" to the question, "Do you have any relatives or acquaintances who are actively operating within the PKK/KCK terrorist organization?"

When asked whether she knew former HDP Deputy Co-Chair Azad Barış, Özdemir stated that she did know him.

Stating that she was involved in the HDP Şişli district administration in 2016, Özdemir noted that Barış was a member of the HDP Headquarters Party Assembly.

In her testimony, where she stated that she joined the HDP Istanbul provincial administration between 2017 and 2019, Özdemir noted the following:

"During this period, because I was in the provincial administration with Barış and he was the deputy co-chair, we met more frequently. In 2019, I decided not to take part in the HDP Istanbul provincial administration. In 2023, I left the HDP and resigned. In 2024, I became a member of the CHP. During this period, when I spoke with Barış again, he had the idea of establishing a think tank. He is a person who has completed master's degrees in these subjects and is a rare and well-known Yazidi sociologist in the world. When he told me about the idea of establishing a think tank, I received it with excitement and said why not. We talked about this subject for months. S. P., my partner in the 'Des Grup' company, which I have been a founder of since 2005, decided to get married and move abroad in 2020, so he transferred his shares to me. As I mentioned above, because we were in the idea of establishing a think tank with Barış, instead of establishing a different company, we increased the purpose and subject at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) under the umbrella of 'Des Grup', registered a sub-brand, and established the think tank named 'Spectrum House'. The 'Spectrum House' research company is officially operating. For this reason, I have had a commercial relationship with Barış from 2019 to the present day."

Regarding the fugitive suspect of the investigation, Hunav Altun, Özdemir said, "I know the person. He was in the HDP Şişli district administration; I know him through this capacity. He is a hardworking friend and I have not heard anything negative. The person named Altun is my actively registered employee at the 'Des Grup' company. He does the design (graphic design) of research reports."

QUESTION ON 'URBAN CONCENSUS'

During her interrogation, Özdemir was asked, "What does 'urban consensus' (kent uzlaşısı) mean, when and for what purpose was it established?"

Upon this, Özdemir explained the following:

"I do not have any direct information about the 'urban consensus'. Only as far as I have heard from the media, it is an alliance that the CHP and HDP have carried out regarding municipal council memberships. However, the matter I know directly is the Istanbul alliance. Here, the CHP Headquarters is already authorized. I did not become a municipal council member with this 'urban consensus' alliance. Because I was born in Şişli. The schools I attended and the education I received are suitable for the Şişli profile. I was made a municipal council member candidate because I am a good profile with political intellect, selected from among resumes, and with the favor of Resul Emrah Şahan, who was elected Mayor of Şişli, I was selected as the Deputy Mayor responsible for culture and arts, international relations, and neighborhood heads (muhtars). I have known Şahan since 2019 or 2020. The reason for this acquaintance is that Şahan was the head of the Istanbul Planning Agency (İPA). Because after Azad Barış and I established Spectrum House, we also met with İPA to conduct various research."

WE WORKED WITH DEM PARTY AS A POLITICAL PARTY

Stating that they had been thinking about establishing Spectrum House since 2019 but registered it in 2021, Özdemir stated that they established the company together with Azad Barış.

Explaining that the purpose of the company was to conduct political and social research, to publish research reports on democratization, and to prepare information notes on this matter, Özdemir said, "Here, we only worked with the DEM Party as a political party. I do not remember working with any other political party."

In the interrogation, findings were conveyed regarding the investigation conducted by MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) on Azad Barış, stating that Özdemir was the owner of Medworx International Consulting and Human Resources Limited Company, of which Barış held 100 percent of the shares as of August 2, 2024, between October 18, 2023, and August 1, 2024.

When asked why there was no money transfer between her and Barış regarding the company transfer, Özdemir said, "When we expanded the field of activity of the company named Des Grup, I did not request any fee from him for the transfer of the company named Medworx due to the expenses Barış had made."

Özdemir gave the following response to the question regarding "According to the MASAK report, he sent you a total of 1 million 545 thousand 423 liras in pieces between 2019 and 2024, and the descriptions of the transfers included expressions such as 'Demo, Oso, Oslo, Barış, S.house, Spectrum, Demet S, for Bodrum readings, half of the bar is on me' and similar expressions":

"I do not remember the explanation of all money transfers at the moment. However, the explanation 'half of the bar is on me' is because he paid for half of the bar made within the company. D.S. is a company employee. I remember that the money transfers in question were money sent for my commercial relationship with him and for company-related expenses abroad."

When asked about the findings that "according to VEDOP data, the 'Des Grup Import Export Translation and Consulting Services Trade Limited Company' received the most money transfers from the HDP Headquarters, and there are 6 e-invoice records issued for the HDP Headquarters and DEM Party in the examinations, and the total of these invoices is 4 million 254 thousand 808 liras," Özdemir replied, "We have conducted voter tendency and public opinion research with the party in question during intense election periods. These are the amounts paid as a result of the invoices issued in return for the services provided. As a matter of fact, the HDP and DEM Party in question are subject to the Court of Accounts audit. Therefore, the reason for these payments is the invoices related to the research conducted, as will be clearly seen in the Court of Accounts audit."

"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO KNOW HIS JUDICIAL RECORDS"

Regarding the findings that "fugitive suspect Hunav Altun, who has an SGK record at Des Grup and a record for the crime of 'being a member of an armed terrorist organization', is also a banking authority at Medworx and withdrew money by proxy," Özdemir said:

"I do not have any information about where he is right now, and it is not possible for me to know the judicial records of the person in question. (We ask for judicial registry records when we hire them at the company, but it is not possible for me to know their other records.) Since I transferred the company named Medworx to Barış, I do not know what duty the person named Altun performs there. I know Altun because of political party activities and I hired him for this reason. No one recommended this person."

Regarding the detection of her communication with 198 different people who have judicial records for terrorism crimes in HTS records, Özdemir said, "It is not possible for me to know the judicial registry records of the people I talk to on the phone. In addition, since I have been involved in politics for years, I have contact with many people. As a matter of fact, considering that I have been a deputy mayor since the last local election, it is normal for me to contact many people I do not know by phone. I want these issues to be taken into account."

Regarding the question about her presence in the WhatsApp group named "HDP 1st region provincial and district" and some correspondence in the group regarding the terrorist organization PKK, Özdemir replied, "I do not remember the group at all, and even if I was added to this group, I did not stay for a long time. I did not participate in any of the actions you read to me, and they are not the kind of things I would participate in anyway."

Regarding Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Özdemir said, "I know the part after İmamoğlu became the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; I have no acquaintance with him before that. I still do not have any acquaintance with him."

Özdemir stated that she came to the prosecutor's office of her own free will and denied the accusations against her.

News Source: AA