Turkish authorities intercepted 60 kilograms of illegal gold in the suitcase of Yunus Emre Morkoç, who had served as an aide to a former deputy customs and trade minister, at İstanbul Airport’s VIP lounge in September, the BirGün daily reported on Wednesday.
The gold, worth approximately 174 million Turkish lira ($5 million), was discovered on September 20 during a search of Morkoç’s luggage following his arrival on a flight from Dubai.
Morkoç, who had traveled with former Deputy Customs and Trade Minister Fatih Metin, accessed the VIP lounge, which is typically reserved for senior officials and politicians. Although the search of a VIP passenger’s belongings is uncommon, customs officers reportedly conducted the inspection based on intelligence information.
Journalist Timur Soykan from BirGün detailed the circumstances of the smuggling attempt, highlighting that it occurred in an area of the airport where passengers are generally exempt from routine checks.
Soykan suggested that the tipoff may have come from intelligence services investigating VIP travelers bringing gold into the country. He noted that the incident raises questions about the involvement of other officials, including two former and three current lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who have been linked to frequent Dubai trips.
Morkoç was arrested, but no action has been taken against Metin, who said he had no knowledge of the gold and denied any connection to the incident.
Metin, a former deputy minister and ex-AKP lawmaker, claimed that his former aide’s activities were unrelated to his own, adding that he had traveled to Dubai for professional reasons and that Morkoç had accompanied him on his own.
The smuggling attempt was kept from the press for 18 days until it was first reported, with allegations surfacing that government authorities pressured the customs office and prosecutors to keep the case under wraps. Soykan pointed out that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan might have given orders to suppress the news and protect those involved.
This incident has drawn attention to an ongoing gold smuggling crisis in Turkey. The country’s August 2023 imposition of a monthly import quota for unprocessed gold aimed to curb a significant portion of the trade deficit in the country.
However, the quota has inadvertently fueled black-market activities, as the price of gold in Turkey currently exceeds that in Dubai by $3,000 to $5,000 per kilogram. Industry insiders say the current wave of smuggling resembles that of the late 1980s, when illegal gold imports surged due to similar price discrepancies.