Kurdish businessman who made shocking revelations about Turkish gov’t detained in Spain: report

Spanish authorities have detained Kurdish businessman Muhammed Yakut in the northern city of Santander on an INTERPOL Red Notice that was issued at Turkey’s request after Yakut made shocking allegations about the Turkish government and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) figures, according to a special report by the Patronlar Dünyası news website.

According to the report, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) tracked down Yakut and coordinated his detention with Spanish authorities.

Before the May elections, Yakut, a Kurdish businessman from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, made revelations on YouTube about AKP figures’ alleged links to shady business deals, black money and mafia-style dealings as well as the murky background to a July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

Yakut’s “Delilerin Delisi” (the craziest of the crazy) YouTube channel became inaccessible after a court order was issued in April.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Yakut in May after he released a video making allegations that included claims regarding former finance minister and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak’s mysterious disappearance in November 2020.

Albayrak vanished from the public eye following his unexpected resignation as finance minister. He resurfaced in May 2021, attending Friday prayers at the recently built Çamlıca Mosque in İstanbul, only to disappear from public sight once again.

In this video Yakut alleges that Albayrak’s initial disappearance was due to a violent altercation that took place after his relationship with model and actress Özge Ulusoy was exposed. Yakut claims that Albayrak was seriously injured during the incident and was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment.

Yakut alleges that Albayrak met with Ulusoy on a yacht belonging to Erkan Yıldırım and that then-Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu possesses tapes of the affair.

Yakut details the alleged incident that led to Albayrak’s disappearance, stating that Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, went to the yacht with her son Burak Erdoğan after learning about the incident. Yakut alleges that a violent altercation took place and Burak battered Albayrak, resulting in the latter being seriously injured and taken to the hospital.

In his video Yakut also claims that Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who also owns Medipol Hospitals, helped treat Berat Albayrak under a false name and that Emine Erdoğan, through proxies, owns 30 percent of the shares in the hospital chain. Yakut claimed that Albayrak underwent a six-hour jaw operation at Medipol Hospital in İstanbul’s Bağcılar district.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued the arrest warrant for Yakut on charges of “unlawful acquisition and dissemination of personal data” and requested an INTERPOL Red Notice through the Ministry of Justice at the time.

In April journalist Serdar Akinan was detained and released on judicial probation 20 hours after his detention after he interviewed Yakut.

Yakut told Akinan that the July 15 coup attempt was staged and that President Erdoğan and members of his government all knew about it in advance.

He said Erdoğan and the AKP government as well as then-chief of general staff Hulusi Akar were responsible for the death of 251 people on the night of the coup.

People challenging the AKP narrative on the failed coup or investigating its background are frequently targeted through judicial action or bans.

According to the AKP, it was staged by the faith-based Gülen movement, a claim strongly denied by the movement.

Many believe the abortive putsch was a false flag aimed at entrenching the authoritarian rule of President Erdoğan by rooting out dissidents and eliminating powerful actors such as the military in his quest for absolute power.

Although little is known about Yakut, some people likened him at the time to mob boss Sedat Peker, who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates. Peker vowed to expose the government’s dirty laundry two months before the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections; however, he has been unable to make good on his promise because he has been forbidden from broadcasting exposés on the internet.