Justice Minister Gürlek answered questions on current issues during a live broadcast on TV100. Gürlek announced that 54 suspects were detained in the third wave of an investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the Alihan Kuriş organization.
Gürlek said that trustees had been appointed by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund to 11 companies as part of the investigation, and that trustee appointments had also been ordered for four associations. He said the suspects detained in the latest operation had not yet appeared before a judge.
The Alihan Kuriş investigation
Gürlek said the first operation targeted Alihan Kuriş and the organization's leadership. Saying that Kuriş took over the organization at a young age, Gürlek said its leadership structure changed after the death of Arif Ahmet Denizolgun in 2016 and that the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was conducting an investigation into the matter.
Gürlek said the case file included allegations of establishing and leading an organization, money laundering and fraud against the state. He said new statements from cooperating witnesses and applications from victims had been added to the file, adding that the investigation could expand and that any new operations were at the discretion of the chief public prosecutor's office.
Gürlek said work was also being conducted on findings that money had been transferred abroad, and that numerous valuable properties were registered in the names of Kuriş and his family. He assessed that the organization's leadership had used people's religious feelings to create a high standard of living for themselves.
Investigation into Denizolgun's death
Gürlek said an exhumation had been carried out in connection with the death of former Transport Minister Arif Ahmet Denizolgun and that samples had been taken. He said the case file also contained statements from witnesses and cooperating witnesses, as well as a report from the Council of Forensic Medicine.
Gürlek said initial findings contained indications that the death may have been suspicious, adding that the course of the investigation conducted by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office could change after the report. He said investigators were examining issues including bruising on the throat, the allegation of drowning and the late notification of medical teams.
Other investigations
Gürlek said 35 suspects had been arrested in the investigation into the "Kuytulcular" conducted by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. He said the investigation was examining allegations that people had been forced or threatened into signing promissory notes, that money had been taken from them and that individuals had been recorded using methods resembling an intelligence network.
Gürlek said the file concerning the Alihan Kuriş organization included an examination of a messaging application called "Glooper" and an accounting program called "Tek Kayıt." He said work was continuing on the transfer of money abroad through forged documents and its subsequent reintroduction into the system.
Gürlek said some fugitives had been taken to Muğla in a vehicle allocated to former Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, adding that two other vehicles were also being examined. Gürlek claimed that the records in the case file did not match Şahin's statement that he had provided the vehicle through a rental arrangement.
Gürlek also spoke about Ekrem İmamoğlu's conduct during hearings, saying that courts were not political arenas and that defendants needed to present their defense regarding the acts attributed to them. He said statements from witnesses or cooperating witnesses were not used on their own in investigations, but were compared with HTS and Financial Crimes Investigation Board records.
Gürlek said new statements and Financial Crimes Investigation Board reports had been obtained in the investigation into the Ahbap Association, adding that further detentions or waves of investigations could take place.
Unsolved crime files
Gürlek said the Justice Ministry's Department for Investigating Unsolved Crimes had been operating for approximately four months and announced that 46 incidents had been solved so far. He said the department was examining unsolved murder cases and murder files that had left a deep mark on society, adding that there were approximately 690 files.
Gürlek said findings indicating a FETÖ connection were being assessed in the investigation into the helicopter crash in which Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and those accompanying him died. He said a meeting attended by the pilot was held in Elazığ, that some individuals took part in the meeting and that the investigation's first operation targeted people alleged to have links to the organization, along with military personnel.
Gürlek said the files on Uğur Mumcu and Behçet Oktay were also being examined, adding that work was under way to bring a fugitive in the Mumcu murder case to Türkiye. He said work was continuing on the files concerning Çağla Tuğaltay, Gülistan Doku and Rojin Kabaiş.
Fight against street gangs
Gürlek announced that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had seized all assets belonging to 880 people as part of the fight against street gangs. He said the financial networks of criminal organizations would be targeted, adding that some groups used social media platforms for propaganda and exploited people under the age of 18.
Gürlek said provisions concerning children driven into crime had changed under legislation adopted by Parliament and published in the Official Gazette, and that penalties for certain crimes committed by children had been increased. He also commented on the responsibility of families.
