Zeydan Karalar's notable assessment regarding the Özarslan resignation: 'He seemed like a solid person'

Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar was released following an interim decision made during the February 5 hearing of the case known as the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş Criminal Organization Case," which involves 7 CHP mayors, 5 of whom were in custody. Karalar made significant statements during the program he attended.

Zeydan Karalar joined a Halk TV broadcast following his release.

Speaking about the mayors who have recently transferred from the CHP to other parties, Karalar remarked, "There has never been this much party-switching," and added, "The ruling power knows the local strength of municipalities."

Stating that he was surprised by Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan's resignation from the CHP, Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar said, "He seemed like a solid person."

"Political parties compete, and candidates of political parties run as candidates from a political party. Now, if you are very confident in yourself, you should run as an independent candidate and get elected from there," Karalar said, continuing his remarks as follows:

"If you enter as a candidate for a political party and are elected from there, you need to respect that national will. Because people are voting for that political party. Of course, we do not find it right to leave that and join another party."

Using the expression, "One must criticize the current conditions as much as criticizing those who change parties and transfer to another," Zeydan Karalar stated, "There has never been a period with as many mayors changing parties as in this period. Then we must also talk about the conditions of the era."

"VERY DIFFERENT"

Regarding the fact that tens of thousands of citizens welcomed him in Adana following his 212-day prison term, Zeydan Karalar said the following:

"There was a rally, about 50-60 thousand people came. My position in Adana is very different. Look, whether it is the central government or local government, a politician who is elected is ultimately responsible to the citizens, whether they voted for you or not. You have to embrace them and treat them well. The citizens of this country should not be subjected to any isolation or exclusion just because they 'did not vote for me.' Therefore, since this is our attitude in Adana, many people who did not find our victimization fair came out to support us."

"When you look at that crowd, there are those who voted for the AK Party, those who voted for the Nationalist Movement Party, those who voted for the DEM, and those who voted for other parties... That depends on the general attitude of the administrator. That is why all our events are very crowded. For example, our friends in Adana did not stop for 212 days, unlike in any other province. Even though I did not give my approval, the youth walked 1,100 kilometers. The Justice Tent was overflowing every day. It was not just Republican People's Party members who came here. That is something related to the current administrator's perspective on people and treating them without discrimination. I believe that people who govern the state should also be like this."

Zeydan Karalar responded as follows to the accusations directed at him in the Aziz İhsan Aktaş case, in which he remained imprisoned from July 2025 to February 2026:

"In his first statement, Baki Nugay said, 'I did not give a bribe to anyone, nor did I mediate a bribe. Aziz İhsan Aktaş was not my official or unofficial partner in the work I did at the Seyhan Municipality.' However, after being in prison for 5 months, especially about 10-12 days after Aziz İhsan Aktaş was released following his effective remorse statement, he likely gave another statement for this reason. There are three statements of his there, and two draft statements in the file, but they were not included in the indictment. This is very interesting; I spoke with legal experts and others; this is not a very normal thing, it is not something commonly encountered. In other words, it was coached."

"So what does this mean; if those two draft statements were not there, Zeydan Karalar would not have been arrested. There is a third statement that entered the record, but in none of them... It is not a statement that would require your arrest, of course. Afterwards, of course, in one he says 'someone is coming,' and in another he says 'I met with him multiple times.' Since it is not really the case that he met multiple times, he changes it to a one-on-one meeting. But in all three, he says that the progress payments were not made, that they were delayed, and that we forced him to pay so he could receive them."

"Of course, we said that no such thing happened, that payments were made on time, and that while there is a general perception that municipalities delay payments, that is not the case with us; at Seyhan Municipality, let alone 6 or 7 months, there was not even a delay of two months, let alone a year, and that payments were received regularly every month. In fact, we presented that to the prosecutor as well. However, we were arrested, of course."

"The Honorable Prosecutor says: 'You received your money at various times. In other words, I do not credit your claims in this regard.' Page 495, last paragraph; 'You received your payments at various times, I do not credit your confession that you paid money under pressure,' he says. Well, what does this mean now? Zeydan Karalar is telling the truth, meaning he paid his money on time. He accepts that Baki Nugay is not telling the truth. The expectation here is actually that the case should be closed. However, it arises from another assumption."

Of course, there is a lot of work, so the prosecution probably thought: 'Well, these municipalities must have put out a tender again, and they must have received a tender, so that's the reason.' The good side of the matter for us is this: There is no tender issued after the tender in question, after the work, after that date. In other words, there is no new work. They are putting forward the construct that you paid this money to continue receiving tenders as an assumption.

It could be done, but can something like this happen now? I mean, 'it could be done' and so on... Well, like this; you can also hold a tender when there is a need. Aziz İhsan Aktaş can win the tender, Baki Nugay can win it, or someone else can. As the mayor, you cannot have any involvement in that. You already have no authority or influence in the tenders. Each one is a normal process, do you understand?

Emphasizing that the tender, which was the subject of his arrest, was carried out by the AKP municipality of the time in 2017, Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar spoke as follows:

'The date they claim he 'continued to derive benefit' is November 17, 2017. It is very interesting. Now, you took office on April 1st; the municipality before you was the AK Party at that time, it wouldn't matter if it were another party. When you took over from there, this firm was already working with the existing one, it was doing business there too.

It started working with us until the tender process was finished. You had already been paying regularly from that date until November 17, 2017. What does this mean? It means you will continue to pay regularly after this. I mean, you have done a job now, you are paying your money regularly every month, you are receiving your money... Would you come and ask me for money, would you feel the need for such a thing?

Isn't that right, there is no such condition. Therefore, we gave our statements, and the court panel decided that we should be tried without arrest. But this is also the interesting part of the matter, I say it repeatedly; two draft statements are not a very common situation. Some work has been done there.'

'HALF OF TURKEY WILL NOT BELIEVE IT'

Karalar responded as follows to the question, 'Do you think the fact that an issue from 11 years ago was brought to the agenda, leading to your arrest and you staying inside for 8 months, is a legal process or a political process?':

"Well, of course, we would like to call these processes legal processes. But events are happening in such a way that if I were to call this just a legal process, half of Turkey would not believe it. 60% of Turkey will say this is a political process. The issue is not to convince me or you; the issue is to convince the public conscience, to convince a very large part of society. No matter what we say, the public looks at the current conditions and makes a decision. In other words, because the ongoing trials evoke that political motive, people start to think this way. Actually, this is dangerous for everyone; I wish such a thing did not exist."

"NO OFFER WAS MADE"

Addressing whether he received an offer such as 'Resign from the CHP and get rid of the investigations' during his time in prison, Karalar said, "No, no such offer was made," and continued as follows:

"I mean, even if an offer were made to me, I am a member of the Republican People's Party; all of Turkey knows this. I am a soldier of the party founded by Atatürk. I am a person walking on that path. Everyone has their own opinion, and we respect that. In 1973, Ecevit became the chairman, and the Cyprus operation, the continental shelf in the Aegean, and his protection of the rights there solidified us in that position. Since that day, we have continued on a path we believe in. No such offer or even an insinuation was made to us."

"WE DID NOT LOSE OUR FAITH"

Karalar described the months-long prison process as follows:

"As members of the country's founding party, we are very respectful to the state and very respectful to the state's institutions. Normally, speaking ill of them is a disgrace for us. We may criticize some individuals who represent state institutions, but speaking ill of the state's institutions themselves is a great disgrace for us. So, we went, what can we do? We woke up early in the morning, read some books, walked a bit, and watched some television. As I said just now, they did not leave us alone; we had many visitors. In other words, we never lost our faith that justice would one day be served."

"THERE IS NO REASON FOR ME NOT TO RETURN TO DUTY"

Stating that he expects to return to his post as Mayor of Adana Metropolitan Municipality, Zeydan Karalar said, "There is no reason why it shouldn't happen."

Stating that the accusations against him have been proven baseless and expressing his belief that he will be acquitted, Karalar said, "First of all, the charge of extortion has been dropped. Second, regarding the procurement and continuation of tenders... such an event did not even occur. So where is the crime? Do you see what I mean? We have defended this. In the end, we believe we will be acquitted."

Pointing out that other individuals who faced the same accusations have continued their duties, Karalar said, "Given this situation, it is certainly an unacceptable injustice that similar mayors remain in office while Zeydan Karalar is detained and kept away from his duties."

News Source: 12punto