A secret witness has made allegations of bribery involving a high-ranking Turkish judge, claiming detainees were released in exchange for large sums of money, Turkish Minute reported.
Serdar Sertçelik, a secret witness in the trial of organized crime boss Ayhan Bora Kaplan, has made accusations against Yüksel Kocaman, a former Ankara chief prosecutor and current member of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Sertçelik alleges that Kocaman facilitated the release of detainees for TL 500,000.
Sertçelik, whose claims have led to the arrest of several police chiefs, detailed his accusations in conversations wiretapped by the police, including Sertçelik’s phone conversations with Şevket Demircan, deputy chief of the Ankara Police Department’s organized crime division. In these conversations Sertçelik frequently mentioned Kocaman, referring to him as a key figure in securing judicial favors for money.
One specific conversation detailed Sertçelik’s claims about an attorney named Deniz Aksoy, who allegedly worked similarly to another lawyer known for closing legal cases through bribery. Sertçelik said, “Deniz Aksoy, like Cengiz Haliç, secured releases for her clients by paying Kocaman. I witnessed this many times.”
Sertçelik also recounted a conversation involving Levent Çiçek, an associate of Kaplan. He claimed Çiçek had been promised release by Kocaman in exchange for TL 500,000.
Kocaman came to public attention in Turkey when he visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his presidential palace with his bride on his wedding day and received gifts there in September 2020.
The visit was viewed as an indication of the current state of judicial independence, or lack thereof.
Shortly after the visit, he was appointed as a member of the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals by Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).
Sertçelik previously implicated high-profile figures like former interior minister Süleyman Soylu and former justice minister Bekir Bozdağ. He alleged that Bozdağ was involved in securing a retrial and early release for a fee of €400,000. Bozdağ has denied these accusations, calling them baseless and defamatory.
The indictment’s credibility has been questioned due to allegations of censorship. Journalist İsmail Saymaz reported on Tuesday that an initial version of the indictment, which included 21 additional pages detailing allegations against Osman Arslan, chairman of state lender Halkbank’s board of directors, and Bozdağ, was subsequently revised. These 21 pages were excluded in the final version accepted by the court.
The Ankara 13th High Criminal Court is set to hear the case against 11 defendants, including the six detained police officers, on July 18. The trial is expected to shed more light on the alleged deep-seated corruption within Turkey’s judiciary and law enforcement.
Former interior minister Soylu, who was replaced by Ali Yerlikaya in June 2023, has denied all allegations of involvement with Kaplan’s network. Meanwhile, Halkbank, implicated in providing substantial loans to companies linked to Kaplan, has sought legal action to censor reports on the matter.
The Kaplan investigation continues to unfold, revealing systemic corruption within Turkey’s politics and law enforcement.
