İmamoğlu's diploma and the death of Telat Çabuk are back on the agenda!

Pro-government columnist Nedim Şener stated that journalist Telat Çabuk was the first to bring up allegations of irregularities regarding Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma. Şener claimed that Çabuk was threatened after reporting on allegations of irregular lateral transfer in 2016 and that he passed away one day after a lawsuit was filed.

Şener used the following expressions:

“I am not saying ‘Ekrem İmamoğlu’s father, Hasan İmamoğlu, who knows a lot, should have held a press conference’ for nothing. He called and threatened Telat Çabuk, a journalist working in Beylikdüzü who wrote a story about an irregular lateral transfer in 2016. A complaint was filed regarding this, and a lawsuit was opened. Coincidentally, Telat Çabuk passed away one day later.”

While these allegations caused a wide stir in public opinion, a documented statement came from İmamoğlu's lawyer, Kemal Polat.

STATEMENT FROM LAWYER KEMAL POLAT

İmamoğlu's lawyer, Kemal Polat, responded to the allegations regarding the death of journalist Telat Çabuk with official documents.

Polat emphasized that the allegations do not reflect the truth by revealing the difference between the date of the complaint petition and the date of death.

Lawyer Polat's statement is as follows:

“The manipulative news claiming that Mr. Hasan İmamoğlu threatened the late journalist Telat Çabuk for writing a story about an irregular lateral transfer and that the late journalist passed away one day after a lawsuit was filed against him has no connection to the truth. As a matter of fact, this issue was not included in the complaint petition, and the date of the complaint petition is 08.04.2016, while the date of the deceased's death from a heart attack is 15.08.2016. The case was not dropped due to death; it resulted in an acquittal with a reasoned decision dated 25.09.2018. We will exercise our legal rights against manipulations made with untrue allegations.”

WHO WAS TELAT ÇABUK?

Telat Çabuk was born in Ordu in 1962 and continued his journalism career in the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul.

As one of the founders of Bizim Bakış Newspaper, Çabuk was known for his reporting on local governments, particularly in the Beylikdüzü, Avcılar, and Büyükçekmece regions.

He actively worked in the following areas during his journalism career:

News regarding local governments and municipalities

Political analyses and critical columns

Articles addressing regional social issues

Special files on municipalities and urban management in Istanbul

Çabuk, who was also a mayoral candidate in the Hadımköy township in the 1999 local elections, was a figure interested in politics as well as journalism.

Telat Çabuk passed away on August 15, 2016, as a result of a sudden heart attack. Çabuk, who fell ill in the morning hours, was taken to the hospital by his family but could not be saved despite all interventions.