The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul, which launched an investigation into a controversial video showing officials of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) counting piles of cash, summoned three men in the video for questioning on Wednesday.
Among them are Fatih Keleş, current chair of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club, former deputy director of CHP’s Istanbul branch Özgür Nas and former press adviser of the party’s Istanbul branch, Can Poyraz.
Critics of the main opposition party claimed that the money, which allegedly amounted to TL 15 million ($470,000), was used to "buy" delegates in favor of current Chair Özgür Özel, who succeeded Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a November 2023 vote.
The CHP, which is bracing for the March 31 municipal elections, denied the allegations regarding the video where Fatih Keleş, a close confidante of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and current head of the municipality’s sports club, is seen among people counting the cash in what appears to be an office of the CHP. The party’s Istanbul branch released a statement and said the money was for the purchase of the branch’s new building in Istanbul in 2019, and the footage was from the camera of the office of a lawyer representing the property owner. The party blamed the lawyer for leaking the footage and insisted that the said lawyer tried to blackmail the party, though the footage did not have any "criminal actions."
Imamoğlu himself denied the allegations that money was used for any nefarious purpose and said the video surfaced as an attempt by his adversaries looking to "bring him down before the election."
"People trying to stir up a storm over this has an evil mindset," he said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the matter on Tuesday, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said that the prosecutors would certainly track down the source of the money. In reference to the CHP’s statement that the cash was collected through a donation campaign for new Istanbul offices of the party, Tunç said such donations should be done under certain regulations, pointing out a regulation that requires parties to accumulate funds through bank transfers only.
Mustafa Kemal Çiçek, a former lawyer for the CHP, slammed the party and claimed that the receipt document the party released in response to allegations was "forged." Çiçek, quoted by Turkish media outlets, said the CHP paid over TL 30 million for the purchase of the building in 2019, and the majority of the money was sent by the CHP administration based in Ankara and the rest was covered by Treasury support for political parties. One month later. Çiçek underlined that the acquisition payment went through a bank and was not personally delivered as the video showed.
The footage emerged a few weeks after the parliamentary staff discovered a bag containing $250,000 left in the room of a CHP lawmaker. Two lawmakers associated with the find denied the allegations after some critics claimed the money was "left" as a bribe or would be used to "buy supporters" for the party.