Bora Kaplan case: What is the document that was added to the file and removed 15 minutes later?

Müyesser Yıldız 

12punto.com.tr

The trial of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization, which began being heard again following the appellate court's reversal decision, continued.

Before yesterday's session of the trial, held by the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court at the Sincan Prison complex, tension arose between the relatives of the police officers who are defendants/complainants in the same case and the family of Bora Kaplan. When the detained defendants stood up to watch the argument, former Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) Chief Şevket Demircan was heard saying, "Look ahead."

After the panel took their seats, Bora Kaplan, who requested to speak, described the argument, saying, "When I looked back, there was a person in a suit sitting there, shaking his head and eyes. Then something happens, and it becomes our fault."

One of Bora Kaplan's lawyers, Umut Köroğlu, asked how these individuals were allowed in while the relatives of the defendants were not.

The Presiding Judge replied, "Our door is open; whoever finds a seat comes in. We do not track it," and warned the defendants and the audience, "I do not want any provocation or accusations."

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF SERTÇELİK

The hearing continued with the defense and cross-examination of secret witness Serdar Sertçelik, codenamed M7.

The presiding judge asked Sertçelik questions such as, "When did you meet Bora Kaplan? Did you record your conversations with the police while you were in the TRNC? Was there any situation that forced you to come to Turkey even though you saw the operation in the press? Did you tell your lawyers or the prosecutor that you were subjected to pressure and torture? Why did you contact Erk Acarer from the media? Did you communicate with Cevheri Güven?"

Regarding the question about Cevheri Güven, Sertçelik replied, "After I was shot in Ankara, when he made posts about it, I sent him a message saying, 'There is no such thing,' and cursed at him."

THE FOUND PHONE DEBATE 

When the presiding judge asked about one of the messages on a found phone, Sertçelik's lawyers reminded the court that he had not yet presented his defense regarding this indictment. Upon this, the presiding judge stated that they were the first to receive the file. The lawyers, however, noted that they had submitted a petition on March 24 stating that they had not received the file.

Intervening, Serdar Sertçelik explained the following:

"I am preparing my evidence against this indictment. Let me give an example, provided they don't go to Hungary and alter it to obscure this evidence. I was arrested once again on October 27, 2025. I stayed in a cell. I was even taken to meet with my lawyer while handcuffed and after a strip search. No one knew I was there. The Instagram accounts and emails in the file belong to this period I spent in prison. Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya asked the Hungarian authorities regarding my previous 8-month prison period, 'Was there internet access?' Yes, there was internet access at that time; however, I did not have access to a phone. There are no messages from this period in the file anyway. This is what I am preparing for."

However, the Presiding Judge again asked about a correspondence included in the indictment regarding the found phone. When Sertçelik's lawyers intervened again, he said, "Do not intervene. He can answer if he wants, or he can choose not to."

When the lawyers pointed out that Sertçelik was not familiar with all the issues in this file, the Presiding Judge asked Sertçelik when he would make his defense regarding this file. Sertçelik replied, "At the next hearing."

ONLY TO THE QUESTIONS OF KEREM GÖKAY ÖNER'S LAWYERS

During the continuation of Sertçelik's cross-examination, the Prosecutor stated that he had no questions at this stage; however, he then asked what Sertçelik thought of the statement made by former KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime) Director Kerem Gökay Öner. Sertçelik said that it had been shared on social media and that someone he could not remember had sent it to him.

Meanwhile, Serdar Sertçelik stated that he would not answer questions from the police officers and their lawyers, saying, "Murat Çelik's female lawyer insulted me." While Sertçelik did not answer questions from the police officers' other lawyers, he did respond to Suna Öztaşdönderen, the lawyer for former KOM Branch Director Kerem Gökay Öner, explaining that he had never seen Öner, had never spoken to him, and had only heard his name when the operation was carried out against the police.

Cengiz Varol, the lawyer for Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, said, "He has made an admirable preparation, but I regret that he is harboring resentment and refusing to answer our questions," before asking Sertçelik, "In his statement in Hungary, he also said he was under the threat of the organization. Was he subjected to beating and torture there as well?" Sertçelik merely replied, "I will say all of this in my subsequent defense."

THEIR FIRST TARGETS WERE THE SOYLU FAMILY

The Presiding Judge continued the interrogation by reading out and asking questions about the recordings of the conversations held with Şevket Demircan, both those published by Sertçelik and those submitted to the file by Demircan, separately.

The presiding judge asked, "Is Şevket Demircan here?" After Demircan stood up, the judge stated that he would not read these records again during their interrogation, and therefore, they should listen carefully.

While answering questions regarding the sections in the records about political figures, Sertcelik spoke as follows:

"Whatever scores they had to settle with Yuksel Kocaman, they wanted me to make things up about him. They referred to Süleyman Soylu as the 'Minister of Crime' and shared news about him among themselves. Their first target and goal was the Soylu family. They grow 'idealist' (Ulku) mustaches, yet they have messages calling them 'MHP dogs'."

Upon this, the presiding judge asked if he had the message in question. After saying, "I have it, I will provide it," Sertcelik added the following:

"They wanted me to come up with extra things, as if I were buying bread from a bakery or as if I were a screenwriter writing a series. What do you care about the People's Alliance (Cumhur Ittifaki) or the AKP?"

THE M7 STATEMENT IS NOT MINE 

At the beginning of the afternoon session of the hearing, the presiding judge reminded everyone that Serdar Sertçelik had not yet provided a defense regarding the found phone, and then stated, "We will direct our questions after all the defendants' defenses are completed. Because the file needs to be evaluated as a whole. We have evaluated it in this manner."

Then, saying, "We have a few more questions for you," he asked Sertcelik what he had to say about the statement he gave under the code M7. Sertcelik replied, "Those are not my statements; they were taken by force." Upon the judge's question, "Did you not sign it?" he reminded the court that he had been forced to provide a fingerprint.

KAPLAN: 'I WOULDN'T BE OFFENDED IF THEY CALLED ME A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION LEADER'

The presiding judge stated that Serdar Sertçelik's defense, albeit incomplete, was concluded in its current form and asked Bora Kaplan whether he would present his defense. When Kaplan requested time to work on the found phone file and said he would make a brief statement, the following dialogue occurred, which made the presiding judge laugh:

Judge: If you drag it out, I will cut you off.

Bora Kaplan: We are already used to it. The judge before you used to cut me off too.

Following this exchange, Bora Kaplan stated that his remark yesterday about the police officers being tried for FETÖ was not intended as an insult and that they had misunderstood him, adding, "They can also say I am being tried for leading a criminal organization; I wouldn't be offended." 

I WILL CLEAR THE COURTROOM AND CONTINUE 

When the police officers' lawyers reacted to these remarks by Kaplan, the presiding judge warned them not to interrupt while the defendant was speaking; he also told Kaplan, "A dispute arose when you turned around and said something heated. Do not get into this topic. Are you going to present your defense? If it continues in this manner and with this atmosphere, I will clear the courtroom and continue with those remaining."

Bora Kaplan reiterated that he could not prepare his defense without being provided with the entire file and digital evidence, saying, "If you say, 'We are not giving it to you, we will just hand down the sentence and be done with it,' then so be it. If evidence is hidden from us, it will be a one-sided massacre." When the presiding judge asked, "Is there a problem with the trial?" Kaplan replied, "It's only been a day or two."

THE MASTERMIND IS NOT THE POLICE

Retired police officer Önder Polat, who was arrested in the investigation regarding a found phone, accused his former superiors—who are both defendants and complainants in the case—of wrongdoing, claiming that the correspondence on the found phone was fabricated and making the following allegations:

"M. Ö., whose fingerprints were found on the phone bag, is the mastermind behind this setup. It is not Murat Çelik or Şevket Demircan; he is the one who set up the entire system."

Upon questions from the presiding judge and lawyers regarding this claim, Polat stated the following:

"He is someone I have known for 8 years and Murat Çelik has known for 22 years, with whom they have close friendships and who handles business affairs. He has no technical knowledge, but he has money and employs digital forensics experts. They are experts in cybersecurity and also engage in hacking."

Önder Polat's lawyer, Duran Göçer, also criticized the investigating prosecutor, stating that the fact that M. Ö., whose fingerprints were found on the phone, was only questioned once shows how biased the indictment is, and requested that the note sent via the found phone be sent to TÜBİTAK to determine which computer it was written on.

Erhan Bakioğlu, a friend of Erkan Doğan—who claims that Bora Kaplan pulled out his teeth—explained that Erkan Doğan was a drug addict and that he had been missing those teeth since his time in Samsun. Stating that Erkan Doğan had him record a video to extort money from Bora Kaplan and Barış Kurt, Bakioğlu said, "I have been in prison for 5 months. I am a victim of a friend."

Upon questions from the judge, the prosecutor, and the lawyers, Erhan Bakioğlu stated that Erkan Doğan was a fraudster and said, "Do not believe anything he says. There is someone in Samsun called Violet Barış. He owed her money too. While paying his debt to her after the Bora Kaplan case, he said, 'I have a large amount of dollars.'"

When asked which of the defendants he knew, Erhan Bakioğlu replied, "I don't know anyone here except my lawyer."

WHAT IS THE DELETED DOCUMENT? 

Bakioğlu's lawyer, Baran Tansu, while requesting that 32 reports be obtained to determine the mental health of Erkan Doğan, leveled the following accusations against the investigation prosecutor:

"This operation is an operation carried out in cooperation between the prosecutor and the police with the aim of saving the police. The prosecutor did something unprecedented in the history of the Republic of Turkey; he sent a letter to the 17th High Criminal Court. This is work for a lawyer to do. Furthermore, I saw a document in the file. It contained incredible names. Thinking it would be deleted, I downloaded it immediately. Indeed, it was removed 15 minutes later."

Following these remarks, the Presiding Judge asked what this document was, and the following dialogue ensued:

Lawyer: I don't want to get into trouble. I am a young lawyer. I will present its contents to you later.

Judge: How can you provide a defense if you are afraid?

Lawyer: After our lawyer friend, whom we called 'brother,' was arrested, anything can happen.

Finally, the defense statement of Tarık Teoman, Bora Kaplan's lawyer who remained in detention for 4 months during the investigation into the found phone, was taken. Stating that there was nothing against him other than his name being mentioned in the alleged correspondence, Attorney Teoman emphasized that making a lawyer's visit to their client a subject of accusation poses a threat to all lawyers.

Following Teoman's defense, the hearing was adjourned until Thursday to take the defense statement of Serdar Sertçelik regarding the found phone.

News Source: 12punto