According to a secret witness using the code name İlk Adım, or the First Step, during the time Ersöz served in the southeastern town of Şırnak, he frequently had meetings with Bayık. In his testimony, Adım says: “We went to the Eren military post located on the northern Iraqi border. We took positions at a shrine about three kilometers from the station. Meanwhile, we saw a group of eight to 10 people walking toward the other side of Hezil Creek. At that time, Cemil Bayık and another person whom I know as the husband of [deputy] Fatma Kurtalan left the group. The others stopped. The person whom I believe was Fatma Kurtalan's husband was holding an M16. After a while, he too stopped, and Cemil Bayık walked up to Hezil Creek by himself. Here, Cemil Bayık and Levent Ersöz exchanged two envelopes. Ersöz gave [Bayık] a smaller envelope, while the one that Bayık gave [to Ersöz] was bigger. They left the area after speaking for three or four minutes.”
