Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RwISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily news / September 8, 1993
Kozakcloglu accused of embezzlement
during tenure as Southeast regional governor
134
• Kozakçloglu denies allegation,
labels it slander
• Current regional governor Erkan
declines comment, says claim is to
be investigated by Interior Ministry
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- The daily Sabah on Tuesday said that
Istanbul Governor Hayri KozakçlO~lu is being accused
of embezzling TL 2 billion while he was emergency-rule
governor for the troubled southeastern
proVInces ofTurkey. .
In an Istanbul press conference, KozakçlOglu vehemently
de.nie~ the allegation, labeling it "base slander,
mere fabncatlOnthroilgh and throug~."
With a banner that read "You, too, Mr. Governor?"
Sabah broke the news of a belated discovery -- by two
and a half years -- that TL 2 billion of the relief aid
exténded by the United Nations Development fund to
the Kurds fleeing Saddain Hussein was missinf'
The discovery was reportedly made by Üna Erkan,
successor to Kozakçlogluas emergency-rule governor.
Immediately afterwards, Erkan Informed the Interior
Ministry of the missing amount. ..
.The mimstry inquiry conducted after Erkan's notification
led t? an am~zIn$ revelation .. Sabah said: That
the money In question nad been WIthdrawn"from the
regional governor's official account at Vaklfbankby
Kozakçloglu and deposited into his private account in
a bank in Istanbul.
Fon:nally aske~ to come up with a satisfactory explanatIOn
and facIng a demanô to pay the money back,
KozakçlOglu, Sabah said, wrote to Interior Ministry.
officials, maintaining that he had s~ent it all to meet
"press and other similar expenses. Whereupon, Sa-
.bah reported, the interior minister of the time, Ismet
Sezgin,was told of the incident.
Sezgin is said to have advised those concerned to
"work it all out between yourselves," Sabah said
quoting. a ministry official speaking on condition oi
anonymlly. . -
. ~ozakçlOglu is said to haverepaid the TL 2 billion
In Installments. .
Yet the method of/ayment was somewhat curious
too. KozakçlOglu ha reportedly withdrawn the mon~
ey he needed torepay t)Je debt from the Istanbul governor's
funds.
Asked by the Anatolia news agency to assess the
.Sabah report, current EmerfencY-Rule Governor Ü nal
Erk~n declined comment." won't be dragged into polemIcs.
Those who..read the article willthink it was me who
gave the money. I didn't do any such thing. It's up to
the Interior Ministry to investigate and decide" Erkan
said. '
In another development, KozakçlOglu held a press
conference at the Istanbul governor's office, where,
fla.nked by deputy governors and Istanbul security
chIef Necdet MenZIr, he maintained that "nothing
co~ld be further from the truth than the Sabah story." .
No one has ever doubted the honesty and earnest
wor~ ~f Hayri Koza,kçl?g lu. I've always been an honest
CIVIlservant. This piece of news about me is thoroughly,
absolutely false. Nothing could be further
from the truth," Kozakç 109lu told reporters.
Kozakçloglu corroborated that TL 1.9 billIon had
been transferred. .
"Yet the money was transferred not to a private account
of mine but, on the contrary, to an account of
the Istanbul governor's office. And this with the
knowledge and consent of relevant authorities"
KozakçlOglu added. "This am.ount was Eoing to be
used for various development projects in Istanbul, but
upon the demand of the emergency-rule governorship
dated Jan. l, 1993, the money, deposited in the Sirkeêi
district Valafbank accourtt of the Istanbul governor,
was sent back, together with the accrued interest to
the Diyarbakir account of the emergency-rule g~vernorship,"
he explained. Kozakçloglu also related the
contents of a conversation between him and Erkan in
which he, KozakçlOglu, demanded to usé the TL 2 billion
for Istanbul. .
"When I was appointed Istanbulgovernor, there
Was TL 35 billion In emergency-rule accounts apart
from the allotted budget money. Sol said I wanted to
use that TL 2 bjllion for Istanbul. He refused. So I
sent the money back. En masse, too, not by installments,"
KozakçlO~lu said. .
~~ added thatlte would formally ask the Interior
.MInIstry to appoint a speCial investigator to look into
the case.
The Sabah story coincides with widespread rumors
that Erkan's hopes for appointment as Istanbul governor
have recently been dashed.