Suspect Turgut Koç, who testified as part of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s corruption investigation into Çankaya Municipality, made striking admissions. Koç claimed that he received $300,000 in cash from businessman Menderes Cemaloğlu for a waste collection tender and transferred the money to the election campaigns of Veli Ağbaba and Hüseyin Can Güner.
Koç, who is detained in the Istanbul investigation into drugs and prostitution and is known for his proximity to Özgür Özel and Veli Ağbaba, who moved to the Yeni Parti, claimed that $150,000 of the money was spent on Ağbaba’s election campaign in Malatya, while the remaining $150,000 was spent on the election campaign of detained former Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner.
The money was delivered on a boat
According to Koç’s account, businessman Cemaloğlu handed him the money on his boat at Ataköy Marina. Koç said he later delivered the money in Balmumcu to a person directed by CHP member Emre Doğan. Koç said both Ağbaba and Güner knew about the distribution of the money.
A “10 percent” note in the tender negotiations
Koç said that during a meeting after the election at which the waste collection tender was discussed, Cemaloğlu wrote “10 percent” on a piece of paper, apparently to avoid being overheard, and handed it to Emre Doğan, after which the commission proposal was accepted. It was alleged that the tender’s technical specifications and the list of companies from which cost estimates would be obtained were delivered to the municipality through Doğan on a USB drive and that the tender was shaped around this information.
It was also alleged that applications were filed with the Public Procurement Authority to prevent the company that won the open tender from proceeding and that the work was intended to be awarded to Cemaloğlu’s companies through a negotiated procedure.
Güner’s role
Koç claimed that Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner kept a low profile and acted cautiously, but was aware of all the election financing and tender negotiations and assigned Emre Doğan to handle these matters.
