Who is Sedat Peker? How did he start making these allegations?
50-year-old Sedat Peker has recently emerged as a social media sensation, with his disclosures about alleged high-level criminal activities in Turkey, including corruption, rape, murder, and drug trafficking.
Peker is no Mother Teresa. He’s been a member of the Turkish mafia and has spent more than ten years in prison over various charges.
“To those who say why should we believe you, you aren’t clean yourself, I say, of course, you will learn about this dirt from me. I am dirty too. I’m not a savior or messiah. I’m doing this because for personal reasons,” he says.
Peker has been known for his Turkish ultra-nationalist views for a long time and, in his latest videos, he has used ultra-nationalist jargon and symbols.
He was given the “most philanthropic businessman” award in 2017 in Turkey. In addition, he appears in many photos and videos with Turkish politicians from the ruling party, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He has arranged many political rallies on behalf of the government and was a regular face at high society events in Turkey.
Convicted of founding an organized crime group, Peker left Turkey in 2019 and is believed to be living in the United Arab Emirates. On April 9, 2021, Turkish prosecutors launched an operation against Sedat Peker and groups allegedly led by him.
Shortly after, on May 2, 2021, after taking his wife and children with him, Peker published the first episode of his video series, heating up Turkey’s political discourse. Peker said that government officials had promised him a safe return to Turkey, but he was betrayed.
Each of his videos has had millions of views within hours. In all of them, he has made serious allegations, especially against high-ranking government officials.
What are his claims?
Sedat Peker, wanted on charges of founding a criminal organization, has been making various allegations about senior politicians, ministers, journalists, business people, and security officials in Turkey through his social media accounts since May 2.
Here are some of the serious allegations:
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu
Most of Peker’s videos accuse Turkey’s Interior Minister, Süleyman Soylu, of corruption. He claims that Soylu had promised to end court cases against him, creating a secure environment for Peker’s return to Turkey by April 2021. In some of his videos, Peker says: “The Fancy Süleyman (Soylu) was my return ticket to Turkey.”
He targets Soylu in most of his videos and tweets. Peker also claims that Soylu had promised to inform him of any progress regarding the investigation launched against him.
Peker alleges that Solyu is a part of a network of corrupt institutions and persons in Turkey and that the interior minister unlawfully interferes in judicial processes.
So far, Soylu has responded to questions from journalists in two live broadcasts, denying the allegations against him and branding them an “operation against Turkey.”
Peker also says that Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu wants to be the president of Turkey after Erdoğan. Other contenders, he says, include Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who once served as Turkey’s Economy Minister. Peker says his relations with Albayrak deteriorated because of his association with Soylu.
According to Peker, Soylu has launched a secret operation against Erdoğan to seize power in the AK Party.
Cihan Ekşioğlu, Chairman of the EKBA Holding
Cihan Ekşioğlu, whom Peker describes as the “foretelling son” of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, has many companies in the defense sector.
According to Peker, Ekşioğlu took ownership of a shopping center called Victoria Gardens in Ukraine by falsely accusing the owner of being a member of the Gülen movement, a designated terrorist group by the government of Turkey.
Peker claimed that Ekşioğlu was given protection on Soylu’s instructions. The Istanbul governor’s office has issued a statement confirming that he was indeed given protection.
Deniz Baykal’s Sex Tape Scandal and Korkmaz Karaca
Sedat Peker has accused Korkmaz Karaca, a member of the country’s Economic Policy Board, of amassing wealth through blackmail. Peker claims that Karaca filmed a sex tape of former chairman of the main opposition party Deniz Baykal.
These allegations of Peker entered Twitter’s Trending Topic list with the hashtag “Deniz Baykal Resign.” Many people from the opposition side accused Baykal of collaborating with the current government and aiding their rise to power in 2007 to keep the sex tape a secret.
Baykal led the main opposition party, Republican People’s Party (CHP), from 1992 to February 1995, from September 1995 to 1999, and again from 2000 to 2010. The sex tape scandal got Baykal removed from his position in 2010.
Veyis Ateş and Sezgin Baran Korkmaz
In the video he released on June 6, Peker claimed that journalist Veyis Ateş mediated between the government and SBK Holding Chairman Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, who is on trial for “money laundering and fraud” charges in the United States and Turkey.
Ateş allegedly asked Korkmaz for 10 million Euros on behalf of a lobby. Ateş appeared on a TV program on the evening of June 17 and denied the allegations. However, Korkmaz, who attended the live broadcast right after, claimed that Ateş wanted 10 million Euros from him.
On June 20, 2021, a voice recording emerged in which Ateş appears to be asking Korkmaz for 10 million Euros. Although, Ateş claimed that the audiotape was fake.
Korkmaz was detained in Austria on June 19, 2021, upon request of the US.
Former Minister of Interior Mehmet Agar
In his videos, Sedat Peker says former minister of interior Mehmet Ağar is the head of the Turkish “deep state” and refers to him as “deep Mehmet.”
It is not the first time that Ağar’s name has been mentioned for alleged affiliations with a so-called deep state. A report by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) prepared in the 1990s says about Agar:
“A special crime team has been formed by the General Directorate of Security with the appearance of being used for activities against the PKK and the Dev Sol … The group is directly subordinate to Mehmet Ağar, the General Director of Police, and managed by the General Director of Police Consultant Korkut Eken.”
“The group in question travels to and from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, and Azerbaijan, smuggling drugs in the guise of engaging in activities against terrorists.”
The former Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar is still on trial within the scope of the “JİTEM Case” regarding unsolved murders committed in the 1990s.
Gendarmerie Intelligence Organisation (JITEM) is the intelligence wing of Turkey’s paramilitary force Gendarmerie. Various human rights organizations claim that between 1989 and 2008, JITEM was involved in 5000 unsolved killings of journalists, intellectuals, and human rights and political activists. It is also accused of being behind the “disappearance” of around 1,500 people.
Another accusation of Peker against Agar is about Azerbaijani businessman Mubariz Mansimov. Ağar allegedly initiated an unfounded trial against Mansimov in connection with the so-called FETO organization and uses this situation to embezzle Yalıkavak Marina, which belongs to Mansimov.
Agar, who denied the allegations against him, said, “If we had not been there, the mafia would have seized there (Marina)”.
Allegations related to foreign policy
Venezuela
Sedat Peker, in the 7th episode of his Youtube videos, claimed that Erkam Yıldırım, son of Binalı Yıldırım, the previous prime minister of Turkey, has been trying to establish a new smuggling network between Venezuela and Turkey.
According to Peker’s claim, after 4.9 tons of cocaine was confiscated in Colombia in 2020, the son of Former Prime Minister Yıldırım wanted to create a new route through Venezuela.
Making a statement on Peker’s claim, Binali Yıldırım said, “My son went to Venezuela in December last year. Along with him, he took and distributed some materials such as test kits and masks to those in need in order to fight against Covid. This was the purpose of his visit,” he said.
Venezuela has been under US economic sanctions since 2015. In this context, Peker’s claims are also important in terms of US-Turkey relations.
Syria
In his video published on May 29, 2021, Sedat Peker claimed that the Turkey-based International Defense Consulting Construction Industry and Trade Inc. SADAT, had been sending weapons to jihadist groups including Al-Nusra in Syria.
“Our trucks were going as ‘the Sedat Peker aid convoy’. We were giving pictures to the press. We were sending all the equipment. But other vehicles were going (to Syria) under my name. We thought that these were going to Turkmens in other places. We didn’t know what was inside them. I mean, there were weapons, I’m not a naïve child … And this was normal, something that should happen. But this was not organized by the MİT (National Intelligence Agency) or the military. This was organized by SADAT, by a team inside the SADAT,” Peker said.
Peker claimed that the weapons were not sent to ethnic Turkmen, but to the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra organization.
Retired Brigadier General Adnan Tanriverdi, former chief adviser to President Erdoğan and founder of SADAT (International Defense Consulting Construction Industry and Trade Inc.), denied Peker’s allegations in an interview with the BBC.