The former vice president of Turkey received $50 million in bribes from a mafia group to prevent the government from confiscating their assets in the country, according to recordings released by an investigative journalist featuring a former insider who is currently imprisoned for the murder of the group’s leader.

Halil Falyalı, who owned several casinos and hotels in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), a self-proclaimed state on the Turkish side of Cyprus, died in an attack that took place in front of his house in Kyrenia in February 2022. The attack involved a shower of gunfire on Falyalı’s vehicle. Falyalı sustained critical injuries from 16 bullets and later died in a hospital, while his driver, Murat Demirtaş, died at the scene.

Falyalı allegedly had shady relations with Turkish government figures.

In May 2011, a US district court in Virginia charged Falyalı with money laundering and drug trafficking. The trial was concluded in absentia in 2016 and Falyalı was found guilty. He has been wanted by US authorities ever since, the reason Falyalı never left the KKTC. Enjoying considerable influence over the small island with his multibillion dollar fortune, Falyalı managed to avoid any handover to the US.

Earlier this month, Turkish media reported that Dutch police had arrested Cemil Önal, a former confidant of Falyalı who allegedly managed his finances until his death, in the Netherlands in connection with the murder of Falyalı and his driver.

Önal has been under surveillance by Dutch police since a tip-off was received from Turkish law enforcement and is expected to be extradited to Turkey.

Cevheri Güven, an investigative journalist in exile whose videos on YouTube in which he talks about the Turkish government’s corruption and shady relations attract hundreds of thousands of viewers, posted a video on Sunday containing two audio recordings of Önal’s phone calls from the Dutch prison.

Güven reports that after the murder of Falyalı, Önal went to Greece, where he sought asylum, and finally to the Netherlands, where he was recently arrested.

Güven mentions that there are two scenarios for his arrest.

The first theory is that he is wanted by Turkey for his involvement in the murder of Falyalı, over the evidence found on a phone linked to the murder.

The second theory is that Önal demanded a large sum of money from the Falyalı group, which is now run by Halil’s widow Özge Falyalı and his brother Hüsnü Falyalı, in return for keeping quiet about sensitive information on the group’s illegal activities. When he was unable to collect the money, he threatened to pass the information on to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). After this blackmail, the Falyalı group leveraged their influence on the Turkish government, which led to Önal’s arrest in the Netherlands at Turkey’s request.

$50 million bribe

Falyalı’s death was followed by a crackdown on individuals associated with his organization in Turkey.

In November 2022 the state-run Anadolu news agency reported that some $30 million in cryptocurrency on the Malta cryptocurrency exchange that belonged to Falyalı had been seized upon a demand from the Turkish authorities as part of an investigation into an illegal gambling ring.

In December 2022 Anadolu again reported that Turkish prosecutors had issued detention warrants for 163 people with links to the deceased Falyalı for allegedly engaging in illegal gambling.

In the recording Önal describes how Özge Falyalı contacted KKTC President Ersin Tatar via Alihan Pehlivan, the editor-in-chief of Gündem Kıbrıs daily, shortly after her husband’s murder. According to Önal, this contact paved the way for the bribery arrangement.

According to Önal, part of the $50 million bribe was handed over to then-vice president Fuat Oktay in İstanbul, while the majority was transferred to him in Dubai. In return for this substantial payment, it is alleged that no extradition requests would be made against the Falyalı family and that their assets in Turkey would remain untouched, especially in light of the ongoing legal proceedings against them.

In addition, Önal’s recordings suggest that Halil Falyalı was involved in extensive covert surveillance activities, with his brother Hüsnü Falyalı, overseeing the collection of sensitive information using various recording devices such as ballpoint pens, triple plugs and wristwatches. These recordings allegedly included conversations of high-ranking bureaucrats and statesmen. Önal claims that Hüsnü Falyalı stored these recordings on a server located in Israel.

Since the alleged bribe was paid, operations against the Falyalı family appear to have been halted. No request has been made for Ozge Falyalı’s extradition to Turkey, and the family’s assets in Turkey remain untouched.

Güven emphasizes that the fact that recordings were stored on servers in Israel makes the Turkish government vulnerable to blackmail from foreign governments.

Falyalı had been released from prison in the KKTC approximately a month before his murder. He had been sought for allegedly assaulting an employee at his casino and was detained on October 14, 2021, along with three other suspects. Falyalı, hospitalized for heart problems during his detention, was implicated in a scandal involving sexually explicit material of certain Cypriot politicians and businessmen.

Falyalı came to public attention in Turkey in May 2021, when notorious Turkish mob boss Sedat Peker had alleged while exposing the Turkish government’s involvement in international cocaine trafficking that the drug was being shipped to Turkey from Venezuela and then to the Middle East on luxury yachts, while the profits were laundered in the KKTC by Falyalı.

According to Peker, Erkam Yıldırım, the son of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) politician Binali Yıldırım, former minister Mehmet Ağar and Falyalı were running the cocaine operation, while then-interior minister Süleyman Soylu afforded them immunity. The revenue was laundered through Falyalı’s casinos in the KKTC and on online betting sites before being injected into Turkey’s economy.

Peker had also said Falyalı was influential in the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and that he possessed sex tapes of a number of politicians and bureaucrats whom he hosted at his luxury hotels in Cyprus.

Journalist Erk Acarer reported at the time that Falyalı was accused of using these materials to negotiate his release from prison. In December 2021 Falyalı and the three other suspects were released following the withdrawal of charges against them. The attack on Falyalı occurred on February 8, 2022.

Journalistic integrity

In his video Güven explains how such important pieces of evidence documenting the corruption of the Turkish government end up in his hands, with an anecdote from his inquiries about these stories to high-ranking members of the government.

According to Güven, in order to stay true to journalistic principles, he asks high-ranking bureaucrats or statesmen about the allegations against them and the documents he has obtained, although it is very likely that they will not respond to his inquiries.

Güven says officials often respond to requests for such information with the question, “How much do you want?”

Güven says this points to a deep-rooted culture of bribery and corruption in the Turkish power structure, as almost everyone he asked assumed he would be compromised for the right amount.

Güven emphasizes that he seeks critical information, such as Oktay’s alleged bribery, not for personal gain, but to expose corruption and hold those in power accountable.

Güven goes on to talk about the challenges journalists face in Turkey, where the entire system, including the media, is tainted by corruption. He emphasizes that few can be trusted in such an environment and that the search for the truth often involves great personal risk.

Following Güven’s video, the Turkey-based media, including critical outlets, did not cover the allegations. Oktay has yet to deny the allegations. KKTC President Ersin Tatar told Turkish Cypriot media outlets that he has no knowledge of the alleged transactions and does not think Oktay would do such a thing while stating that he has ordered the KKTC police to investigate the matter.

Some pundits emphasized that if Turkey functioned as a democratic country, such revelations would shake the government to its foundations, triggering nationwide protests, parliamentary investigations and a relentless demand for answers, while in Turkey, these allegations and the accompanying audio recordings are met with an eerie silence.

The opposition, as with previous scandals, seems to remain remarkably quiet.

Cevheri Güven’in söyledikleri vahim. Doğru veya yanlış, bunu kim araştıracak? Muhalefet bunları düşünmesi gerekmez mi? Söylenenler doğru ise vay ülkenin haline. Hangi kurumlar bunu inceleyecek. Ülke güvenliği kalmış mı bunlar doğru ise? Makamlar kimlere emanet!

— Kemal Albayrak (@albayrak_kemal) December 25, 2023

“What Cevheri Güven claims is serious. True or false, who will investigate? Shouldn’t the opposition think about these things? If what is being said is true, woe to the country. Which institutions will investigate this? Is there any security left in the country if all this is true?” former AKP lawmaker and one of the founding members of the party, Kemal Albayrak, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.