A businessman standing trial along with İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and hundreds of others said in court on Monday that testimony he previously gave in hopes of leniency under Turkey’s “effective remorse” law was not true and had been made at the direction of prosecutors, Turkish Minute reported, citing the BirGün daily.
Murat Kapki, who owns an advertising company, is among the dozens of people arrested as part of an investigation targeting the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)-run İstanbul Municipality that also led to the arrest of the city’s prominent mayor, İmamoğlu, in March 2025.
Kapki told the court that his earlier testimony concerning Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney was “not true” and had been given “entirely under direction.”
He made the remarks during the 39th hearing of the trial, in which İmamoğlu, the CHP’s presidential candidate, and hundreds of others are facing corruption and organized crime-related charges.
More than 400 people are on trial, 77 of them in pretrial detention.
The case is being heard by the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court in a courtroom across from Marmara Prison in Silivri.
Kapki said he did not want to be treated as an informant and claimed he had been pressured because members of his family were also implicated in the case.
“My brother is also in pretrial detention in this case. My wife is a defendant, so the statements I gave that day are invalid,” Kapki said. “If they had asked me that day, ‘Did you burn Rome?’ I would have said, ‘Yes, I did.’”
When asked by the presiding judge whether his earlier statements about Güney were accurate, Kapki said they were not and had been given under direction.
Kapki’s earlier statements had accused Güney of being part of the alleged “system” cited in the İstanbul Municipality indictment, obtaining illicit gains and using businessman Serkan Öztürk as his alleged “cashman,” according to remarks made in court by Güney.
Güney, a CHP mayor of İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district, has been in pretrial detention since August 2025. Prosecutors have sought up to 35 years in prison for him and have asked that his case be merged with the broader trial against İmamoğlu and hundreds of others.
İmamoğlu also questioned Kapki during the hearing, asking whether they had any personal or business relationship before the investigation. Kapki said they did not, apart from İmamoğlu once shaking his hand at a large public event.
Kapki also denied ever having tea, coffee or a meal with İmamoğlu or doing business with him.
İmamoğlu said Kapki’s answers showed that the indictment’s allegation of a criminal organization had collapsed, saying, “There was no [criminal] organization here. There is no [criminal] organization here.”
Kapki had previously given statements to prosecutors under effective remorse provisions in June and July 2025, according to earlier Turkish media reports.
In those statements he made a series of allegations about irregular payments, municipal tenders and advertising contracts involving İstanbul Municipality officials and businesspeople linked to the case.
His earlier testimony was among statements cited in the investigation into İmamoğlu and other suspects on charges including leading or membership in a criminal organization, extortion, bribery, aggravated fraud, bid rigging and unlawfully obtaining personal data.
The indictment accuses İmamoğlu of leading a criminal organization and seeks a prison sentence of up to 2,430 years on charges including bribery, fraud, bid rigging, money laundering and unlawfully obtaining personal data. İmamoğlu and the CHP deny the accusations and say the case is politically motivated.
The jailing of İmamoğlu, seen as the most powerful political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, led to mass protests unseen in Turkey since 2013 and drew international condemnation.
His prosecution has also intensified concerns over the use of the judiciary against opposition politicians in Turkey.
