Former Deputy PM Arınç supported son-in-law’s leadership of Gülen-affiliated federation: Testimony

Aysel Alp - Mesut Hasan Benli / ANKARA

The arrested son-in-law of former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told an Ankara judge that he had accepted the presidential post of a Gülen-affiliated institution because Arınç told him it would be “beneficial” for him to be in charge of such an organization.

An Ankara court on June 5 ordered the arrest of academic Ekrem Yeter after he was detained as a part of the ongoing investigation into the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), accused of being behind the failed July 2016 coup attempt.

In his testimony at the Ankara court, Yeter denied the charges filed against him. 

“I presided over the International [Anatolian] Health Federation [USAF], of which I was member for a while. In this association, there were people in close relations with Fethullah Gülen community. When I was offered the presidential post, I talked with former Parliamentary Speaker Bülent Arınç, my father-in-law. He told me it would be beneficial for me to be in charge of such a non-governmental organization. I accepted the post with such feelings,” he said.

“I had an active account at Bank Asya [seized by the state over its links with the Gülen movement] for 10 years. I was putting my investments into good use at this bank. In 2014, I had my son circumcized. I deposited the money from [the circumcision feast] in Bank Asya in 2015,” he said in his testimony.

“I did not know that the CDs and books seized by the police at my house were banned. These books were given as a gift of the daily Zaman [closed by the government over its allaged links to the Gülen movement],” he added. 

Following his testimony, Yeter was arrested and sent to the Ankara Sincan Cezaevi Prison. 

Arınç had on June 5 told daily Hürriyet that he believed his son-in-law had no connection with FETÖ.

“There is a [judicial] process ongoing. Hopefully, we will get information about him soon. We believe in our son-in-law in every aspect and we also believe he does not have any relationship [with FETÖ],” he said.

Yeter was among thousands of people either suspended or dismissed from their duties as a part of decree laws issued under the state of emergency declared in the wake of the failed coup attempt.

He had been working as an associate professor in the cardiology department of the Yıldırım Beyazıt University’s Medicine Faculty but was dismissed from his post in line with a decree law issued on Sept. 2, 2016.