Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan has been in prison since March 2. He was arrested on allegations of forcing markets to advertise on municipality-owned billboards on behalf of the Boluyu Seviyorum Foundation (Bol-Sev), which provides scholarships to children. A trial was opened at the Bolu 3rd High Criminal Court against 19 defendants, including Özcan, six of whom are detained. Özcan faces up to 263 years in prison on charges of extortion and bribery. The first hearing is scheduled for July 6.
Özcan is also on trial for allegedly blackmailing a female municipal employee, facing up to three years in prison. An investigation was launched into a past sexual assault complaint by the same woman. Özcan’s latest setback came from Kılıçdaroğlu, who referred him to the High Disciplinary Board (YDK) for expulsion. Without waiting for the YDK’s decision, Özcan announced his resignation from the CHP on social media.
This is not Özcan’s first departure from the CHP. In 2022, he was expelled for remarks made to a female AK Party municipal council member but rejoined the CHP the following year. However, nine days later, after harsh criticism of Kılıçdaroğlu and throwing a chair in front of the CHP headquarters in Ankara, he was expelled again.
He returned to the party after Kılıçdaroğlu lost the congress that same year through amnesty. Although on trial in Bolu, Özcan is being held at the Sincan F-Type Prison in Ankara. In his letter, he addresses the indictment and charges against him: "Nowhere in the indictment is it stated that Tanju Özcan or his close associates received any financial benefit.
During my seven years in office, there is no allegation of providing illicit gains in approximately 1,500 tenders and thousands of zoning applications I conducted."
He points out that according to the MASAK report, there was not a single suspicious transaction in his accounts and that the indictment tacitly accepts that he has not taken any illicit gains. Here is Özcan’s letter: "Today marks the 90th day in prison, and for some reason, I wanted to write to you :) Although the facilities in my ward are limited, one still develops a routine.
I wake up every morning at 7:45. The first thing I do is nervously turn on your program on Halk TV. I say nervously because I first try to read the red breaking news ticker at the bottom of the screen while rubbing my eyes! Usually, what I fear happens. Almost every morning, I wake up to distressing news of an operation.
Then I listen carefully to your commentary to learn the details. It’s as if mayors who have governed for years held a secret meeting a few months ago and decided collectively to engage in corruption! If I try to watch pro-government channels, honestly, it makes me nauseous. I often vomit.
Especially when they show footage of Bolu Municipality in every 'corruption' news, I swear my hands get bruised from punching the wall in anger. Doesn’t corruption by a public official require using the authority and influence of their position to enrich themselves or their close ones, benefiting from the entrusted budget? My trial starts in Bolu on July 6, 2026. The indictment hasn’t even been reported.
Because nowhere in it is it stated that Tanju Özcan or his close associates received any financial benefit. I am accused of providing benefits (resources) to the Bol-Sev Foundation for scholarships and aid. My colleagues are accused similarly. There is no allegation of providing illicit gains in the approximately 1,500 tenders and thousands of zoning applications I conducted during my seven years in office.
So, I supposedly committed all these corrupt acts for students and those in need. I guess I really am the grandson of Köroğlu :) The prosecutor was so malicious that during the investigation, they obtained a report from MASAK. They examined all my and my friends’ accounts (for the last five years). Since the MASAK report found no suspicious transactions in any of the accounts examined, the indictment does not mention it even once.
Likewise, there is no reference to the Interior Ministry’s investigation that acquitted me of the same charges! So, Mr. İsmail, in summary, I say this: The prosecution reluctantly admits in the indictment with the phrase 'without the intention of gaining benefit' that not a single illicit bite has passed my lips. I expect the first hearing to last three or four days and that no detained defendants will remain.
If I were not confident in myself and my friends, I would not speak so boldly. Note: On July 3, 2023, before Kılıçdaroğlu’s change, I marched from Bolu to Ankara and eventually threw a chair at Kılıçdaroğlu. Like many others, you found my action exaggerated and criticized it. I suppose everyone has now seen Kılıçdaroğlu’s obsession with chairs more clearly.
After witnessing these events, do you still think my chair-throwing was a severe reaction? :)"
