Emir Sarıgül, who is jailed in a money laundering investigation, has alleged that his father, Mustafa Sarıgül, handed a total of $350,000 to Yeni Parti leader Özgür Özel, CNN Türk reported on Sunday. The claims appeared in a supplementary statement Emir Sarıgül gave from prison, details of which CNN Türk correspondent Serdar Er described on air. The allegations add a political dimension to a case that until now has centred on financial crime.
According to CNN Türk, Emir Sarıgül said he withheld these details from his first statement and only raised them in the follow-up. He described two separate cash deliveries and said he learned about them from his father, who told him what had happened.
Why it matters
The accusation names the leader of an opposition party and the father of the man making it, raising the stakes of a probe that has already produced more than 20 arrests. It also puts scrutiny on why Mustafa Sarıgül, a sitting MP, has not been detained. CNN Türk reported that his parliamentary status and immunity were cited as the reason no action has been taken against him at this stage, even though his name appears in the file.
Yeni Parti has rejected the allegations outright. Cumhuriyet reported that the party issued a swift statement calling the claims "completely false" and "an open slander," following earlier reports in a newspaper seen as close to the government.
The two alleged payments
The first allegation concerns the period when Yeni Parti was being set up and work was under way on its building. Emir Sarıgül claimed his father gave Özgür Özel roughly $250,000 during that time. He said the handover took place outside a restaurant in Ankara's Ümitköy district, where his father left the money in the rear of a vehicle belonging to Özel as they were leaving. Emir Sarıgül maintained that his father recounted the episode to him directly.
The second allegation involves a gift package. Emir Sarıgül said that last month his father told him Özel would come to his Ankara home for dinner and asked him to buy two scarves. According to the statement, Emir Sarıgül purchased the scarves from a well-known brand at İstinye Park. He alleged that the scarves were then placed in a gift box and that his father inserted $100,000 into the package in instalments. Emir Sarıgül said the box was handed to Özel at a residence in the Ulus Platin complex in Ankara. He stated that the scarves were inside the box alongside the money and that it was presented as a gift. With this delivery, the alleged total given to Özel reached $350,000, according to his account.
CNN Türk reported that Emir Sarıgül also asked for close protection in the same statement and requested his release. The broadcaster noted that it was unclear whom he feared. He additionally gave some personal details, saying his two children are cared for by their maternal grandmother and that his wife is abroad.
How the investigation began
The case came to public attention after complaints from two people in Germany, according to CNN Türk. Those individuals first sent a file to journalist Murat Ağırel containing claims about transactions worth millions of dollars and about the Sarıgül family. The probe covers fraud and money laundering allegations, and Emir Sarıgül is among those accused.
Serdar Er reported that transactions of €80 million and €100 million are under examination in the file. In the next phase, investigators are expected to review money movements and account records, with a report from Turkey's financial intelligence unit, MASAK, awaited and account activity to be analysed in detail. More than 20 people are in custody in connection with the case, CNN Türk reported.
Separately, NTV reported that two more people were arrested in the Sarıgül investigation.
Emir Sarıgül's decision to point directly at his father from his prison statement is among the most closely watched developments in the file so far. What to watch next: the MASAK report and the detailed analysis of account movements, which will test the cash-delivery claims against the financial record.
