Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Terrorism and Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau launched an investigation against Şile Municipality for the crimes of "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime", "extortion", "bribery" and "tender rigging". Mayor Kabadayı, who was detained on July 10, 2025, and 4 other people were arrested within the scope of the investigation. Within the scope of the investigation carried out to decipher the criminal organization, when HTS records and account movements in the MASAK report were examined, 22 suspects were detained in the simultaneous operation held on December 23, 15 of them were arrested, and the 3rd wave operation took place on June 26, 2026.
REQUEST FOR UP TO 92 YEARS OF PRISON AGAINST MAYOR KABADAYI
In the prepared indictment, "It has been understood that the leader of the criminal organization Özgür Kabadayı established a unique structure after he became mayor, his first goal was to create a fund to be used in the next elections, he carried out his first actions after being elected mayor in order to generate income for this fund, and the public power he had was used to generate income from these actions." evaluation was included. It was requested that Kabadayı be sentenced to imprisonment from 33 years, 3 months to 92 years for the crimes of "extortion by force", "forgery of official documents", "fraud within the scope of the cooperative activities of cooperative managers during the commercial activities of persons who are traders or company managers or acting on behalf of the company", "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations", "taking bribes", "establishing an organization to commit a crime", "extortion by force". Since he was the ringleader, he was asked to be punished separately for all actions.
In the indictment, "It has been determined that the organization's managers and members with special qualifications within the organization are increasing their assets day by day within the scope of the organization's activities, that they are developing their social areas and activities thanks to the opportunities brought by public power and material enrichment, and in this context, they ensure that the actions are carried out by strictly adhering to the leader of the organization and passing the instructions to the subordinate members without question and precisely." expressions were used. The indictment requested imprisonment from 14 to 37 years for the detained defendant Berkant Emergency for the crimes of "fraud during the commercial activities of persons who are merchants or company managers or acting on behalf of the company, within the framework of the activities of an organization formed to commit crimes, to the detriment of public institutions and organizations", "forgery of official documents" and "bribery", while the other 51 defendants were requested to be imprisoned at varying rates starting from 4 years.
OBJECTION FROM LAWYERS TO THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT
Lawyers of detained defendants, who were allocated separate seats from their clients, objected to the order of the hearing in which non-arrested defendants were seated together with their lawyers. Accepting the objection, the court president decided that the defendants who were not detained should sit separately from their lawyers.
THE DEFENDANTS ARE IN FRONT OF THE JUDGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
Due to the insufficient hearing room at the Istanbul Anatolian 27th High Criminal Court, the hearing took place in the conference room. 12 defendants, including former Mayor Özgür Kabadayı and Berkant Emergency, as well as some undetained defendants and a complainant attended the hearing. Parties' lawyers and relatives of the defendants also attended the hearing. The hearing started after the identification of the defendants.
