AI-generated illustration

AK Parti spokesperson Ömer Çelik said the government is acting with firm resolve and without compromise to pursue those behind the investment fund scandal, while keeping legitimate investors separate from the perpetrators.

Speaking after a Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at party headquarters, Çelik also addressed new party memberships, legislation on fund liquidation and the government's Terror-Free Türkiye agenda.

Condolences for Üsküdar official and criticism of online hate speech

Çelik offered condolences for Dündar Ziya Gültekin, acting mayor of Üsküdar, who died in a traffic accident in Düzce. After news of the death, Çelik said, very ugly and painful posts appeared on social media, and the party condemned what it described as an organized outpouring of hate speech.

Çelik thanked political parties that published respectful, humane messages sharing the grief, saying those responses showed sensitivity to the loss.

New members join the party

At the MKYK meeting, Çelik announced that lawmaker Cemalettin Kani Torun, who had worked alongside the party before, had rejoined. "We say welcome home," Çelik said, praising Torun's significant work in Africa and expressing hope that those efforts would continue within the party.

Çelik said the party had received a large number of membership requests from mayors and lawmakers, all reviewed carefully by its authorized bodies, and predicted more arrivals at the level of lawmakers, mayors and municipal council members. Bodrum municipal council member Asuman Gülsoy also joined the party that day, which Çelik said showed that AK Parti and the People's Alliance are a trusted address for Türkiye's future.

Fund investigation: no lynching, no protection

Çelik said work on the fund case was moving quickly under the will set out by President Erdoğan. "Strong resolve, determined and uncompromising action is being taken to go after these fund fraudsters, the fund devils as we call them, who committed these corruptions," Çelik said, adding that the party separates such actors from legitimate investors who use these vehicles properly.

Çelik said assessments that damage Türkiye's capital markets and economy are wrong, but repeated the party's position: "We will not condemn anyone through a political lynch campaign, nor will we allow any allegation to be covered up through political protection. The fundamental issue is for the whole truth to come out and the necessary consequences to follow." Under Erdoğan's instructions, Çelik said, all state institutions, from the judiciary to the treasury and every oversight body, are at their posts to recover the stolen money and impose punishment.

Çelik added that nobody should act as anyone's lawyer or prosecutor, and said a Coordination Council chaired by the vice president has been holding consecutive meetings on the task.

Liquidation bill and structural measures

On investment funds whose liquidation was ordered by the Capital Markets Board, Çelik said the process must be run fairly, transparently and effectively, and that securing payments under legal guarantees matters. "Attention is also being paid to protecting legitimate investors and those who were harmed," Çelik said.

A bill on certain investment funds ordered into liquidation was approved in the Plan and Budget Committee and is expected to be debated this week. Çelik said the bill aims to complete liquidation fairly and transparently, recover values unlawfully taken from fund assets, collect losses from those responsible and pay recovered values to fund unit holders, with Parliament to set out the procedures. Work also continues on a draft providing permanent and comprehensive amendments to the Capital Markets Law, strengthening regulatory and oversight mechanisms and increasing the deterrent effect of sanctions and penalties.

Çelik stressed the need for structural steps so such incidents do not recur, and for distinguishing fraudsters from legitimate investors while judging the problem separately from the strength of the economy as a whole.

Wrongdoers will be held to account

Çelik said the party opposes both political lynching and political protection, and that the way forward is for the full truth to emerge through the work of the judiciary and the finance authorities. Distorting matters for political polemics, Çelik said, diverts energy from the issues that genuinely need to be pursued.

"We will go after this fund fraud, this fund devilry, to the very end. It makes no difference how close anyone is to anyone, where they stand or what office they hold," Çelik said. "The truth will come out fully and those who did wrong will be held to account in the strongest possible way."

Iraq policy and the Terror-Free Türkiye agenda

Çelik said the focus is on reaching the goals of a Terror-Free Türkiye and a terror-free region, and that the president's instruction is to keep that focus with the strongest sensitivity. On Iraq, Çelik recalled Erdoğan's long-standing efforts for the country's integrity and for an inclusive political model encompassing Turks, Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs and all sectarian groups.

Çelik welcomed the appointment of Iraqi Turkmen Front chairman and Kirkuk Governor Muhammed Seman Ağa as a state minister in the Iraqi government, calling it a very positive step for Turkmens, and praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Zeydi's inclusive work on a terror-free region and an inclusive government model. Çelik congratulated Seman Ağa and sent greetings to the Iraqi prime minister and government.

On the region, Çelik said that while the genocide in Gaza continues, Israel's steps to turn the West Bank into another Gaza, its attacks on Lebanon and Syria, and separatist activity in Suwayda point to a larger political project. Referring to a map published by Netanyahu, Çelik said "Zionist occupation and imperialist division have essentially joined hands" to drive Turks, Kurds and Arabs apart. Çelik also thanked Kurdistan Regional Government President Neçirvan Barzani for saying Erdoğan deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Çelik described the Terror-Free Türkiye and terror-free region processes as inseparable and said setbacks happen because they are not linear, with progress sometimes arriving in a day after a month without movement. Çelik recalled that the law enabling the disarmament and liquidation of the PKK passed with 467 votes, and said it will enter into force automatically once the organization's disarmament and dissolution are completed. State institutions, Çelik said, are at their posts under Erdoğan's instructions.

Key takeaways

• AK Parti spokesperson Ömer Çelik said fund fraudsters are being pursued with determined, uncompromising action under President Erdoğan's instructions.
• A bill on liquidating certain investment funds was approved by the Plan and Budget Committee and is expected to be debated this week; a broader Capital Markets Law draft is also in the works.
• Çelik rejected both political lynching campaigns and political protection of any allegation in the fund case.
• Çelik confirmed new party members, including lawmaker Cemalettin Kani Torun and Bodrum council member Asuman Gülsoy, and stressed the focus on a Terror-Free Türkiye and a terror-free region.