İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek met with journalists at a press conference today.
In his statement at 2:30 p.m., Gürlek said that the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality indictment was ready and would be submitted to the court within half an hour. The chief prosecutor also said that the case would be heard in Silivri.
A written statement from the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office shared details of the indictment, which had been awaited for 232 days.
CHARGED WITH 143 OFFENCES
In the indictment, İBB Mayor and CHP Presidential Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been detained since 23 March, was charged with 143 offences; İmamoğlu faces a prison sentence ranging from 828 years to 2,430 years.
In the indictment, İmamoğlu was described as ‘the founder and leader of the criminal organisation.’ Fatih Keleş, Murat Ongun, Ertan Yıldız, Murat Gülbekaran, Adem Soytekin and Hüseyin Gün were described as ‘organisation managers.’ Keleş was referred to as ‘the most important manager.’
In addition to this, the charges directly levelled against İmamoğlu were ‘bribery’ (12 counts), ‘laundering of criminal proceeds’ (7 counts) and ‘fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organisations’ (7 counts).
‘TO TAKE OVER CHP AND RUN FOR PRESIDENT…’
It has been alleged that Ekrem İmamoğlu established an organisation ‘to take over CHP’ and ‘to raise funds for his presidential candidacy’.
The prosecution alleged that the ‘organisation’ was established by İmamoğlu in 2015 during his tenure as Mayor of Beylikdüzü and that ‘the financial benefits obtained’ were used in the 2019 local elections.
The 3,900-page indictment, consisting of seven separate sections and containing the statements of 15 confidential witnesses, listed a total of 402 names as ‘suspects.’
The indictment claimed that ‘160 billion lira in public damage was caused over a 10-year period.’
Meanwhile, in the introduction to the indictment, the use of the phrase ‘like the tentacles of an octopus,’ reminiscent of the words of AKP President Erdoğan, drew attention.
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ŞAHAN AND ÇALIK
Resul Emrah Şahan, the detained Mayor of Şişli, was charged with nine offences in the indictment. These included ‘disclosing personal data to others,’ ‘dissemination or acquisition,’ ‘extortion,’ ‘bribery,’ and ‘attempted bribery.’
The indictment stated that Şahan ‘acted directly under the orders of the organisation’s leader and was a member with special status within the organisation’s hierarchical structure’.
Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık was also charged with a total of six offences. Çalık was charged with accepting bribes.
ONGUN CHARGED WITH 52 OFFENCES
Murat Ongun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of İBB Medya A.Ş., who is described as an ‘organisation leader’ in the indictment, has been charged with 52 separate numbered acts. Ongun was charged with ‘tampering with tenders and fraud to the detriment of the public,’ ‘bribery and extortion,’ ‘’receiving bribes,’ ‘obtaining private data,’ ‘financing troll operations,’ and ‘laundering assets derived from crime.’
Adem Soytekin, accused of being the ‘organization’s treasurer,’ was also charged with 16 separate offences. Soytekin was charged with ‘facilitating bribery’, “bribery”, ‘extortion by coercion’, ‘fraud to the detriment of public institutions’, ‘laundering assets derived from crime’ and ‘establishing and managing an organisation’.
GÜRLEK: THERE ARE SIX ORGANISATION MANAGERS
At a press conference held at 2:30 p.m., İstanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek said the following regarding the indictment:
In the introduction to the indictment, we explained the structure and organisation of the criminal organisation. There are six organisation managers. The vast majority of the digital evidence has been decrypted. Ekrem İmamoğlu is held responsible for the crimes of others because he is an organisation leader.
There are confidential and regular witnesses in the indictment. More than 70 people have benefited from effective repentance. Adem Soytekin, who benefited from effective repentance, provided us with effective information. We identified Adem Soytekin as an organisation leader in the indictment. We determined that the information he provided as an organisation leader was incomplete, but the information he provided was accurate. He did not provide information about himself. He was arrested because the information was incomplete.
Hüseyin Gün is being tried as an organisation leader in this case. Currently, two mayors are also facing trial. Beylikdüzü and Şişli… An additional indictment will likely be prepared regarding İstanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ), İstanbul Natural Gas Distribution Company (İGDAŞ) and Bosphorus facility management. Our investigation into these matters has not yet been completed.
How the tender processes were designed is very important. You can see this in the indictment. The correspondence was entered directly into the file. There is WhatsApp correspondence from Mehmet Murat Çalık. There are communications in the file that contain confessions. The total public damage is 160 billion TL and 24 million dollars from the date of the crime. There are 95 properties. These are not current values. The crime covers a 10-year period.
STATEMENT FROM THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
The full statement made by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the indictment is as follows:
Our Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Organised Crime Investigation Office, within the scope of the investigation conducted into the Imamoğlu Criminal Organisation;
Our Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Organised Crime Investigation Office, within the scope of the investigation conducted into the Imamoğlu Criminal Organisation, has completed the following to date (105) suspects have been arrested, (170) are under judicial supervision, (7) are wanted with arrest warrants, and (402) suspects have been indicted. A total of (143) different actions related to the complainants’ petitions have been filed for “Establishing and Managing a Criminal Organisation, Membership in a Criminal Organisation, Knowingly and Willingly Assisting Without Being Part of the Hierarchical Structure of the Organisation, Accepting Bribes, Giving Bribes, Extortion, Bid Rigging, Fraud to the Detriment of Public Institutions and Organisations, Violation of the Tax Procedure Law, Laundering Assets Derived from Crime, Recording Personal Data, Obtaining and Disseminating Personal Data, Intentionally Polluting the Environment, Violating the Forest Law, Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information, Damaging Public Property, Violating the Mining Law and Violating the Forest Law.
Of the suspects against whom public proceedings have been initiated, (99) are suspected members of the organisation (1 of whom is the leader of the organisation), Ekrem İMAMOĞLU, (5) are suspected managers of the organisation, Fatih KELEŞ, Murat ONGUN, Ertan YILDIRIM, Murat GÜLBRAHİMOĞLU, Adem BOYTEKİN and Hüseyin GÜN, (92) are suspected of being members of the organisation, and (7) are suspected of knowingly aiding the organisation, making a total of (105) suspects.
The indictment states that the founder and leader of the organisation, suspect Ekrem İMAMOĞLU,
committed the following crimes directly: Establishing an Organisation for the Purpose of Committing Crimes (8 counts), Bribery (12 counts), Laundering Criminal Proceeds (7 counts), Fraud to the Detriment of Public Institutions and Organisations (7 counts),
As the founder and leader of the criminal organisation, pursuant to Article 220/5 of Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237, he is also charged with offences committed by members of the organisation within the scope of the organisation’s activities, including Recording Personal Data (2 counts), Obtaining and Disseminating Personal Data (2 counts), Concealing Criminal Evidence (4 counts), Obstruction of Communication, Damage to Public Property, Accepting Bribes (47 counts), Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information, Extortion (9 counts), Fraud to the Detriment of Public Institutions and Organisations (39 counts), Laundering Assets Derived from Crime (4 counts), Tampering with Bids (70 times), Intentional Pollution of the Environment, Violation of the Tax Procedure Law, Violation of the Forest Law, Violation of the Mining Law,
A total of (143) actions were included in the indictment for which punishment was requested. The investigation is ongoing for some of the suspects against whom proceedings have been initiated.
SUBMITTED TO THE COURT
The indictment prepared by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality was submitted to the İstanbul 40th Heavy Penal Court at 16:20.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Akın Gürlek “İBB iddianamesi hazır” dedi: İmamoğlu’na 2 bin 430 yıl hapis talebi!, published in BirGün newspaper on November 11, 2025.
