For three weeks now, the well-known Turkish criminal has been shaking the public with serious accusations against the current Minister of Internal Affairs, among others exposing what is known in Turkey as a “deep state”, the connections between politicians, bandits, the military, etc. the secret services and extreme right-wing groups, and in particular the links of the Justice and Development Party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AKP) to criminal networks. On Sunday, a mafia mobster accused the former minister and military man of killing two journalists on separate charges in the 1990s.
Sedat Peker, 49, a two-time convict for organized crime, left Turkey for the United Arab Emirates in late 2019 after being the subject of a police investigation and, he claims, was warned by Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu. He also accuses the latter of having promised him protection and was unable to speak. Peker, who was in charge of organizing rallies for Erdogan’s supporters, started making YouTube my megaphone thereafter, in April, police operations targeted their businesses as well as their friends.
Sedat Peker, who organized rallies in support of Erdogan, says Minister Suleiman Soylu promised to protect him and warned him that he would be investigated, but he could not speak.
Each of the seven published videos has amassed millions of views. The gangster provided details and evidence to support his claims, including recordings of video calls. He confessed to his role in incidents such as the beating of a former MP and the assault on his office. Hurriyet, which he allegedly organized at the request of members of the AKP.
After the opposition demanded a parliamentary inquiry into their allegations, it was the turn of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Union of Turkish Journalists. “Peker’s legitimacy or position does not justify silence,” commented Erol Onderoglu, the Turkish representative of RSF.
In a video released Sunday, Peker claims that former Interior Minister Mehmet Agar was the head of the Deep State and that in 1993 he was involved in the assassination of journalist Ugur Mumju. This journalist’s car from Republic exploded when the ignition was turned on. The mafia leader attributed the murder of Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adali, who was shot dead in Nicosia in 1996, to Korkut Eken, a lieutenant colonel serving in the Turkish secret service.
While Suleiman Soylu, considered one of Turkey’s most influential ministers, denies the accusations and is also stepping down, President Erdogan, with the lowest level of popularity, said that at the last government meeting he compared criminal groups to terrorist organizations like “poisonous snakes “. For Ibrahim Uslu, a political scientist at the Ankara Social Research Center, the case turned into a public relations fiasco. “The AKP should have made it clear that it is taking decisive measures against criminal organizations,” Diss à Deutsche Welle…
