The Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) has announced its withdrawal of the mayoral candidacy of a former footballer for the earthquake-hit province of Hatay after the footballer’s name was involved in bribery allegations.
TİP made the announcement on its X page on Sunday after claims emerged suggesting that retired national footballer and Hatay resident Gökhan Zan, 42, was involved in a bribery deal with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). According to allegations based on two voice recordings, the AKP offered Zan $3 million in bribes so that he would remain in the mayoral race to the advantage of the party’s candidate. In return, Zan allegedly asked for $5 million and wanted to appear on state-run Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) as a football commentator following the elections scheduled for March 31.
The claims about the voice recordings were brought to public attention by Sözcü daily journalist İsmail Saymaz, who claimed that Hatay residents as well as TİP know all about the voice recordings.
Saymaz, who spoke on Sözcü TV’s YouTube channel over the weekend, said he asked Zan about the allegations and that he strongly rejected them, claiming the voice recordings were “doctored” and that he will take legal action against them.
Zan said he was the victim of blackmail and threats over his candidacy.
In its statement on Sunday TİP did not openly talk about the bribery allegations against Zan but only said there were various allegations suggesting that Zan had been “involved in relationships that the party would never approve of.”
Despite TİP’s statement, Zan, who spoke to the T24 news website on Monday, said he would remain in the mayoral race and would not resign from the party.
Zan said the voice recordings were produced by the use of the deepfake technology, that he had taken legal action against the people who spread them and that he had been threatened by people close to current Hatay Mayor Lütfü Savaş for two weeks.
Deepfake technology can be used to create realistic-looking videos or audio recordings of people saying or doing things they never actually did, which can be used for malicious purposes such as spreading fake news, disinformation or propaganda.
Savaş, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and his municipality are criticized for playing a major role in the massive destruction in the province caused by two powerful earthquakes last year by issuing permits for construction that was not in compliance with the country’s building code or by failing to conduct oversight of construction projects.
The mayor faced angry protests from Hatay residents when he attended a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the earthquakes in Hatay last month on the first anniversary of the tragedy. The protestors called on him to resign, but a defiant Savaş described them as “provocateurs” in a later statement and said he would not step down.
The CHP decided to keep him in the mayoral race despite the criticism.
Zan was nominated by TİP amid the public outrage over Savaş’s renomination.
Zan came to public attention with his desperate calls for search and rescue teams to his city on social media immediately after the two powerful earthquakes hit 11 provinces in southern and southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023.
Hatay was one of the provinces hardest-hit by the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes, which claimed more than 53,000 lives.
Zan posted short videos on social media in which he showed the desperation of people who were looking for their family members trapped under the rubble following the earthquakes and accused the government of leaving the city to its fate.
The former footballer joined the nationalist İYİ (Good) Party in March 2023. He was nominated as a parliamentary candidate in the general election in May but was unable to win a seat. Zan parted ways with İYİ in December, saying he had entered politics to serve Hatay but found it impossible under the umbrella of the İYİ Party.
According to legal experts, since little time is left before the elections and the ballots have already been printed, Zan’s candidacy cannot be officially withdrawn and his name will appear on the ballots as the TİP mayoral candidate for Hatay.