Those feft untouched

Timur Soykan

The first example happened at the start of the operation against Habertürk on 11 September 2025. In the money laundering operation against Can Holding, it was alleged that 88 billion TL of unclear origin was laundered through the company’s accounts. It was claimed that Can Holding bought Bilgi University, Doğa College and the Ciner Media group with hundreds of millions of dollars of laundered money. Kemal Can, the owner of the holding, said he bought these companies at the direction of senior figures of the state and state officials. Yet Kemal Can was not even asked who those senior figures and officials were. Kemal Can pointed to the Bilgi University Board of Trustees. There was a presidential chief adviser and a member of the Economic Policies Board there. In the Habertürk operation, the first people to be shielded were the senior figures of the state and state officials.

WORK AT THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTORATE

Another place the direction of the drug operations was slowly steered towards was the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Communications Directorate. While public attention is locked onto people’s private lives, the real major scandal cannot become an agenda item enough. In a report in Sabah Newspaper, the statement of a female news presenter was included. After describing drug and sex parties, she said, “Ersoy introduced me to his friend Furkan T. who came from Ankara. One day we were going to go to a venue together with Furkan T. and also pick up Ayfer B. But instead of the venue we went to the house Akif had rented. We stayed there for a long time with Furkan T. and Ayfer.”

This time, names were not hidden behind the phrase “state officials”. Barış Terkoğlu wrote Furkan T.’s full identity: he was Furkan Torlak, the Coordinator of the Presidential Communication Directorate Disinformation Countermeasures Centre. Furkan Torlak, who headed the unit that dismissed accurate news day and night as “disinformation”, resigned. But his statement has still not even been taken.

ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION

Yet even pro-government figures made serious allegations about Furkan Torlak. They said he lived in a 40 million TL home and drove a 10 million TL car. They claimed he ran schemes through a company called Menekşe Consruction and snapped up plots of land. Allegedly, he even intimidated ministers by saying the President wanted reports prepared about them. The former head of the Presidential Communication Directorate, Fahrettin Altun, had appointed Furkan Torlak to this role. In other words, most of the allegations led back to Fahrettin Altun. At this point, let’s recall that Fahrettin Altun has still not responded to our report about his 20-year-old son setting up a company and becoming very wealthy. There is still no investigation into this rapid enrichment either.

THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL’S PARTNER

The fact that the operations reached into the Fahrettin Altun period at the Presidential Communication Directorate is not limited to these allegations. Social media influencer Mümine Sena Yıldız, detained in the drug operation, was hired in June 2024 into the private office of the Presidential Communication Directorate. She was dismissed in August 2024 because she did not come to work and could not be reached. Mümine Sena Yıldız worked for a while at TRT as temporary staff. It was alleged that Mümine Sena Yıldız was the partner of a senior official at the Communication Directorate and was hired by him.

It is also alleged that a senior public manager known by the nickname “Chucky” paid the two-year rent of a female news presenter. What’s more, he paid only a nominal fee for this publicly owned building. Among the allegations is that corruption took place in the series production and marketing fees at the institution where Chucky works. While all the actors and singers named in statements are detained from their homes at dawn, public officials facing these serious allegations are not touched.

THE MEDIA MONSTER IS DEVOURING HIM

The spread of operation details through Sabah, Takvim and A Haber within the Turkuaz Media Group also gives clues about conflict within the government. Tensions had risen between the Turkuaz Media Group, run by Serhat Albayrak, the brother of Berat Albayrak, and Fahrettin Altun. Broadcasts targeting Fahrettin Altun were made and in response no awards were given to the Turkuaz Group at the Presidency’s media awards. Now accusations about the Presidency’s awards are also spreading by word of mouth.

In a one-man regime that destroys press freedom and turns the media into a perception monster, does Fahrettin Altun think he is being discarded by his own child?

ÖMER ÇELİK CONNECTION

Furkan Torlak, who held a very critical role at the Communication Directorate, was not only Fahrettin Altun’s weak point. He was a former adviser to AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik. Ömer Çelik’s close links to Furkan Torlak and Mehmet Akif Ersoy were well known. In his statement after being detained, Mehmet Akif Ersoy said he had known months in advance that an operation would be carried out against him. Despite this, AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik had appeared as a guest on Mehmet Akif Ersoy’s programme on Habertürk on 2 December 2025. Seven days later, Mehmet Akif Ersoy was detained. It was alleged that Ömer Çelik went on air to make Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who expected an operation against him, look strong. A witness statement included in the case file also said that Mehmet Akif Ersoy was very close to Ömer Çelik and was even a witness at his wedding. Ömer Çelik has still not made a statement on this. His name was not hidden behind “state official or senior figure” either. Furkan Torlak was a former adviser to TBMM Chairman Numan Kurtulmuş.

SOYLU MADE A STATEMENT

Another politician whose name entered the case file was former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu. At this point, we should stress that having these politicians’ names written into the file is more important than the allegations. Because in a period of a politicised judiciary, these are very important signs. We learned this from Barış Terkoğlu’s report. A witness statement said that Mehmet Akif Ersoy called Süleyman Soylu in the middle of the night to impress the girls. Süleyman Soylu said, “No one has ever had the audacity to call me in such an indecent environment, nor can they” and said this video call happened during the Trabzon Book Fair. Another question comes to mind here. According to witness statements, Mehmet Akif Ersoy was travelling in a vehicle with flashing beacons while under the influence of drugs and ensured that his friends following behind also got past police checks. Who authorised the flashing lights for Mehmet Akif Ersoy’s vehicle?

TENSION IN THE PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE

Even if the arrows point in the drug investigation, MHP figures who are not touched deserve a separate heading. Sabah Newspaper writer Dilek Güngör shared a photo from Mehmet Akif Ersoy’s birthday at a fish restaurant four years ago and wrote, “This file is a candidate to become a political Susurluk.” In the photo was İlhami Yıldırım, the brother of former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım. Also among those posing were Gaziosmanpaşa Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor M.T. and Bursa Deputy Governor S.A. Both were known for their closeness to MHP. In the photo there was also MHP’s former İstanbul Provincial Chair and current MHP MYK member Birol Gür. But the real target of the “like Susurluk” emphasis was MHP lawyer Serkan Toper. On 31 March 2024, Serkan Topar, MHP’s Beşiktaş Municipal Mayor, appeared on Habertürk programmes as a commentator and acted as MHP’s voice.

CONNECTIONS IN THE JUDICIARY

Turkey learned this through Barış Terkoğlu’s report. A witness statement alleged that Serkan Toper and Mehmet Akif Ersoy used drugs together and acted in cooperation. According to this statement, Ersoy gave money of unclear origin to Serkan Toper and he managed that money. The witness claimed that Serkan Toper used Habertürk to get negative coverage published about people he disliked and ensured lawsuits were filed against those he targeted. Then, in return for large sums, he used his connections in the judiciary to secure their release.

Serkan Toper denied these allegations. He said he had never used drugs and there was no relationship of interest. It was striking that lawyer Serkan Toper’s statement was not taken. Are the judicial connections the witness attributed to Serkan Toper being investigated? Here too there is no data showing the investigation has advanced.

WHO ARE THE SENIOR BUREAUCRATS?

In the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office investigation, many allegations about decay in the judiciary are emerging. A witness statement also received extensive coverage in the pro-government media. The statement alleged that Chairman of the Board of Directors, Can Yayın Holding Kenan Tekdağ took Ela Rümeysa Cebeci with him to meetings to influence senior bureaucrats and members of the judiciary and encouraged her to have relationships with these people. Kenan Tekdağ, arrested in the Can Holding investigation, strongly denied these allegations from prison and said he only saw Ela Rümeysa Cebeci for 15 minutes next to the Show Haber Editor-in-Chief during the recruitment process. He said there were no phone calls at all.

While names are being thrown around, are the bureaucrats and members of the judiciary in this allegation being investigated? If this allegation is true, isn’t what is truly appalling the activities of these people within the state?

Supporters who have stayed silent for years about decay in the judiciary are now, with these operations, accepting the dirt in the high judiciary and bureaucracy. They say that the affairs of holdings are settled in the high judiciary in exchange for bribes.

Of course, at the centre of these operations are conflicts within the government and a politicised judiciary. For this reason, time is needed to understand the moves in the dark. In this process, who is touched and who is not will also determine the political course.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Dokunulmayanlar, published in BirGün newspaper on December , 2025.