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Sibel Çarmıklı and son released in criminal gang probe
Businesswoman Sibel Çarmıklı, who was a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) mayoral candidate in this year's municipal elections, and her son Murat Çarmıklı, detained on Monday morning as part of the investigation into the gang, in which a military prosecutor has been arrested, were released Monday evening. The two were released by a court where they were taken on Monday after testifying to police.
The dealings of the organization came under the spotlight when Air Forces Judicial Undersecretary Col. Ahmet Zeki Üçok, who was conducting a military investigation into suspected secret meetings of military academy students planning a coup d'état, was arrested last week on charges of membership in the criminal gang. Investigators claim that businesswoman Çarmıklı agreed to pay the gang TL 2.5 million in return for Üçok arranging to lift a no-sale decision on a piece of land along the proposed route of a third bridge to be built connecting the European and Asian sides of İstanbul. Police have footage proving the two met at a restaurant along with two other people. The footage was obtained by two undercover police officers in the restaurant who were seated right next to the table where Üçok and Çarmıklı sat. Police used hidden cameras and microphones to record the conversation and capture video.
The investigation into Üçok's alleged gang was launched by the İstanbul Prosecutor's Office in August 2008. Photographs and video footage obtained during the investigation now form the backbone of the charges against Üçok and Murat Tugay Tepe, another suspect. A number of others have also been detained in the investigation. Some suspects have been arrested on charges of membership in an organization established to commit crime while Tepe was arrested on charges of “setting up an organization to commit crime” and “attempted looting.”
Meanwhile, according to reports, during his police interrogation on Monday, Tepe denied providing any public officials benefits in return for favors.
Allegations against the gang include claims that it took millions from Fenerbahçe Chairman Aziz Yıldırım to remove his name from an indictment. Other public figures and celebrities such as television actors Sinan Çalışkanoğlu and Alp Korkmaz, scriptwriter Ozan Emre Yurdakul and Murat Aksoylu, the son of the former owner of a television channel, as well as several influential families, were also said to have been in close contact with the gang, particularly for its assistance in evading conscription. Reports yesterday said police went to the homes of Çalışkanoğlu, Korkmaz and Yurdakul on Monday but found no one there. Thirty celebrities will be called to testify to police in relation with the investigation, reports said.
Yurdakul spoke to the press yesterday, denying the allegations. “I just got back from the army. I completed my military service as a short-term private in Yalova,” he said. Çalışkanoğlu refused to respond to questions from the press, telling reporters to contact his lawyer if necessary.
At least six people have been arrested so far in the operation, including a former major identified as Erdem Kılınç. AK Party member Hayrullah Çelebi, detained along with members of the Çarmıklı family, was also released on Monday.
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