Bribery ring prevented non-Muslim minority from using its land

A 60-acre plot of land owned by the Bulgarian Church Foundation in İstanbul's Şişli district was allegedly turned into a “special project area” under an order by Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar to prevent the minority group from using the land. Bayraktar's son is one of those who were detained in the corruption operation.

The land in Şişli was recently returned to the Bulgarian foundation in line with a law that seeks to return confiscated property to minorities.

Emrullah Turanlı, the owner of construction company Taşyapı, had made plans for a project which includes the construction of a shopping mall, residences and a hotel on the land in Şişli and the bribery ring thus launched efforts to profit from the project through changing the zoning plan.

The alleged leader of the bribery ring, Hüseyin Avni Sipahi, had ensured that the land in Şişli had been turned into a “special project area” with the approval of Bayraktar.

Turanlı allegedly met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on July 17 to request that the Şişli land be turned into a “special project area.” Following this meeting, Erdoğan is claimed to have given an order to Bayraktar to complete the procedures related to the land.

The minutes of a phone conversation between Emlak Konut Real Estate Investment Partnership (Emlak Konut GYO) General Manager Murat Kurum and Mehmet Ali Kahraman, a general manager at the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, dated July 24, proves the support Turanlı received from the prime minister. “How can we deal with these guys, brother? They have access to the top [the prime minister],” Kurum said.

According to another claim, following his meeting with the prime minister, Turanlı called Erdoğan's son, Bilal, and told him that he would bring him a document the following day. They later met at the Foundation of Youth and Education in Turkey (TÜRGEV), where Erdoğan's son is a member of the executive board.