Binali Yıldırım

In litigation concerning a payment of 25 million dollars made in 2016 as part of a proposed Türkiye Varlık Fonu transaction, the fund's former chairman Mehmet Bostan stated that he had begun working with the group concerned on the instructions of "Binali Bey". A substantial portion of the money reportedly had not been recovered. Defendants requested that Binali Yıldırım be heard.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Sedat Peker claimed that Erkam Yıldırım, the former Prime Minister's son, had travelled to Venezuela to establish a new cocaine trafficking route to Turkey. The allegation became a parliamentary issue, and Binali Yıldırım personally denied it.

Investigations based on the Malta Files and Paradise Papers documented Maltese companies and substantial shipping assets owned by Binali Yıldırım's sons. The opposition raised questions about transparency and conflicts of interest while he was Prime Minister. Yıldırım and his family subsequently brought proceedings against media outlets and journalist Pelin Ünker, fuelling a further controversy over press freedom.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

After the annulment of Istanbul's first municipal election, Yıldırım and the AKP publicly maintained that votes had been "stolen". Yıldırım subsequently stated that he had been "obliged" to use that expression, clarifying that it was not a legal term.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Yıldırım negotiated with the MHP and steered through Parliament the constitutional reform establishing a stronger presidential executive, narrowly approved by referendum and abolishing the office of Prime Minister that he held. Opponents denounced excessive concentration of executive power.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Yıldırım joked that he had not attended Boğaziçi University to avoid being "led astray", referring to boys and girls mixing there, prompting reactions from students and women's groups.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Personally implicated

As the minister responsible for communications, Yıldırım defended the Güvenli İnternet filtering system and content-blocking policy at a time when thousands of websites were inaccessible and demonstrations denounced censorship and the opacity of filtering lists.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

During a speech on cloud computing, Yıldırım described the "cloud system" as a space where everyone throws things in and others take what they need, adding that thinking too much about computing could make one "lose one's mind". The clip circulated widely and was mocked, given his ministerial responsibility for communications.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Personally implicated

A photograph taken during an official meal in Samsun showing Semiha Yıldırım, the minister's wife, sitting alone at a table separate from the men triggered a national controversy over gender segregation in government circles.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following the derailment of the Ankara–Istanbul accelerated train near Pamukova, which killed dozens of people, the opposition and professional organisations questioned the political decision to launch the accelerated service on infrastructure considered insufficiently adapted and called for the resignation of Binali Yıldırım, then Transport Minister.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility