Following the second election held at the Üsküdar Municipal Council, the allegation that council member Ayhan Aydın, who switched from the CHP to the AKP, was "threatened" during the ensuing dispute has been reflected in his prosecutor's testimony.
In a statement made in front of the municipality, Özgür Çelik had claimed that Aydın called him and said, while crying, "I have a disabled son, who will look after them? I have a disabled wife, who will look after them? They threatened me, and I surrendered to them." Çelik had also claimed that MP Suat Özçağdaş was a witness to this conversation.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an ex officio investigation into the allegations made in the aforementioned statements. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requested that Ayhan Aydın provide a statement regarding the claims.
Testifying at the prosecutor's office, Aydın did not accept the allegations made against him by Çelik. Stating that he was called repeatedly by Çelik before the election, Aydın alleged that numerous phone calls were made at Çelik's request prior to the election for the Deputy Mayor of Üsküdar, and that attempts were made to pressure him during these conversations.
In his statement, Aydın asserted that the words attributed to him did not reflect the truth and said the following:
What has been described does not reflect the truth. I have not been threatened by any person, institution, or authority. The claim that a Public Prosecutor or any other public official threatened me is entirely baseless. No such event has occurred.
News Source: 12punto
