Is Süleyman Soylu a criminal?

Süleyman Soylu is the Minister of Interior in Turkey since August 2016. Nowadays, he is in trouble since he has been accused of serious crimes by an organized crime boss.

Accusations against Süleyman Soylu

Sedat Peker has claimed that Sadık Soylu, the brother of Süleyman Soylu, has been visiting the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization more frequently than the Minister of Environment and Urbanization. And thereby Mr. Peker has allusively accused Sadık Soylu of using Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu’s influence to acquire ill-gotten gains.

Sedat Peker also maintained that he had efforts to provide Süleyman Soylu with his current office. Therefore, Mr. Peker implies that Mr. Soylu should have been grateful to him. In addition to this, Mr. Peker has asserted that he had helped Süleyman Soylu against his political rivals years ago when Mr. Soylu was a member of D.P. or Democratic Party.

Moreover, Mr. Peker has also claimed that he had been a part of efforts to undermine Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in favor of Mr. Soylu. As it is well known, Süleyman Soylu had left D.P. and joined Mr. Erdoğan’s A.K.P. or Justice and Development Party in September 2012. He served as Minister of Labor and Social Security since 2015 until he was appointed to the Ministry of Interior in 2016.

Mr. Soylu and Mr. Albayrak were in the same cabinet for almost five years. It was claimed that there had been rivalry between Mr. Soylu and Mr. Albayrak, but these claims didn’t go beyond rumors. However, Sedat Peker’s recent confessions confirm the rivalry between Mr. Soylu and Mr. Albayrak.

Mr. Peker said that Süleyman Soylu had appointed Erdal Aras to the Central Executive Committee of D.P. when Mr. Soylu elected as the chairman of D.P. Later on, Mr. Peker maintained that Erdal Aras was a previously convicted person who is also Mr. Peker’s friend. That is to say, Mr. Peker implied that Süleyman Soylu has appointed Erdal Aras as a quid pro quo for Mr. Peker’s help and service.

Mr. Peker’s another claim is that Süleyman Soylu has been using his office’s influence to blackmail some businessmen in order to acquire ill-gotten gains. Mr. Peker has accused Süleyman Soylu and his family members of graft, bribery and corruption.

Ministers and their families have been officially granted some privileges which is quite lawful in Turkey. Süleyman Soylu’s family also enjoys these privileges. Engin Soylu, Süleyman Soylu’s son, was also mentioned by Mr. Peker during accusations toward Süleyman Soylu. According to Mr. Peker, Nevzat Kaya, a businessman in Turkey, had been using license plate granted to Engin Soylu who is exempted from police checkpoints.

Mr. Peker’s claims continues: “However, ten days before the nationwide narcotics operation, the license plate was canceled. This operation was announced by the main stream media as the largest narcotics operation in the history of Republic of Turkey, but even not small amount of drug was found during this operation. Why? Because this operation was not narcotics operation, but blackmailing operation. Engin Soylu had warned Nevzat Kaya days before the operation and asked him to pay 5 million USD so as to exclude him from the operation.”

Mr. Peker’s all these claims point out the nationwide narcotics operation conducted on June 30, 2021.

Mr. Peker’s another claim is that Hadi Özışık, a journalist close to Süleyman Soylu, were trying to reconcile Mr. Peker and Süleyman Soylu. After Hadi Özışık denied this claim, Mr. Peker released a FaceTime video call made with Mr. Özışık who during the video call obviously tries to mediate the conflict between Mr. Peker and Süleyman Soylu. After the release of video, Süleyman Soylu blamed Mr. Özışık for setting a trap for him and filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Özışık and his brother.

Mr. Peker has also asserted that Süleyman Soylu has tracked İbrahim Kalın and his executive assistant. İbrahim Kalın is the chief advisor to the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

All these allegations against Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu were expected to sour the relationship between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Süleyman Soylu. However, after Devlet Bahçeli publicly backed Süleyman Soylu, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also taken side with Süleyman Soylu.

Mr. Erdoğan and Mr. Bahçeli has long been in a political alliance. In fact, the support of Mr. Bahçeli and his political party M.H.P. or National Movement Party, has been the sole reason for the political survival of Mr. Erdoğan and his political party since summer of 2016. Therefore, Mr. Erdoğan has been careful not to contradict with Mr. Bahçeli.

Nonetheless, Mr. Peker’s accusations and confessions continuesto threaten many politicians and bureaucrats. Süleyman Soylu is only one of them. While his statements are still very hot in Turkish political atmospher, Mr. Peker has said that the disclosure will continue.