Erdogan’s son accused of bribery and smuggling cars into Syria

There is no end to the scandals in which either Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or his high-ranking associates, or someone from their family environment are the protagonists.

The son of Ahmet Akay, a member of parliament for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has been arrested for bribing a customs official to smuggle two vehicles into Syria, the BirGün newspaper reported.

According to BirGün, Hassan Akai is currently being investigated for bribing a public official and the case file includes photos from the moment the offense was committed.

The initial investigation was launched by the General Prosecutor’s Office of Urfa (Edessa) into two people, Ahmet Yilmaz and Ismail Akdemir, for smuggling tobacco products. Akai was later involved in the investigation after authorities found that he had bribed Mustafa Ataman, the deputy director at the Akcakale customs office, to transport vehicles to Syria.

According to the indictment, Akai bribed Ataman on December 5, 2020. The illegal act was documented with cameras placed in Ataman’s room.

The indictment states that the vehicles passed through Syria, but what they carried remains unknown.

Ataman, in his defense, said he did not remember receiving money from Akai.

The indictment included a conversation between the suspects in the courtroom on December 5, 2020, which showed that Ataman was afraid of being fired by the governor of the district: “Who can fire you when we support you?” the MP’s son asks and adds: “You are from the Black Sea region. You belong to the same region as Erdogan. Who can do something for you?”.

Asked to comment, AKP MP Ahmet Akay told BirGün that the incident was not “news material”: “If my son is guilty, he will be sentenced by the court,” he said.

Akai had previously made headlines for selling millions of pounds worth of fuel oil in the municipality of Akcakale, which is the starting point for Turkey’s latest invasion of Syria.

Petros Kranias