Alican Uludag, who was a former municipal council member of CHP Beşiktaş and one of the most influential figures in this district, secured the first place on the AKP’s candidate list for municipal council membership in the Istanbul district of Çekmeköy. Hüseyin Avni Sipahi, the name of Uğur Tolgahan Sipahi, son of Uğur Tolgahan Sipahi, was written. Following this development, the travel ban abroad in the case of „bribery and extortion“ in which Father Sipahi was on trial was lifted.
There was a notable development in the case of the former municipal council member of CHP Beşiktaş, Hüseyin Avni Sipahi, who was imprisoned for five months in 2022 as part of the „bribery and extortion“ against the Beşiktaş municipality. Sipahi gained a significant vote in the mayoral election in Çekmeköy, where he ran in the 2019 elections as a candidate of the Democratic Party, coming in third place, causing CHP’s loss. Sipahi’s son, Uğur Tolgahan Sipahi, surprisingly took the first place on the AKP’s municipal council member list of Çekmeköy in the elections on March 31. Due to this development, the court lifted the travel ban abroad in the case where Father Sipahi was on trial.
Turkey heard the name Hüseyin Avni Sipahi for the first time during the „bribery and corruption operation from December 17 to 25“. Sipahi, accused of possessing a TOKİ document during this operation, was released after his imprisonment.
Sipahi was elected as a municipal council member of Beşiktaş by CHP in the local elections of 2014. Sipahi, who also served as a deputy chairman at that time, resigned from this position four months later due to the reaction of the CHP headquarters, but continued his work as a municipal council member. However, the Ministry of Interior dismissed the then mayor of Beşiktaş, the treasurer Murat, and Sipahi in 2018.
He was arrested in a bribery operation. In 2022, during the time when these names were in operation, an operation was carried out against the Beşiktaş municipality. Three people, including Sipahi and former Beşiktaş mayor Murat treasurer, who were arrested as part of the „bribery and extortion“ operation, were detained. In the indictment, Sipahi was accused of urging people who wanted a license from the Beşiktaş municipality to donate money to the Beşiktaş Foundation under the pretext of a donation. The 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul decided on May 15, 2023, to release three detained defendants in the case with 17 defendants and imposed an international travel ban on them. The travel ban for the defendants has been in effect for more than a year.
The influential name of Çekmeköy. Meanwhile, Sipahi, who had resigned from CHP, was the mayoral candidate of the Democratic Party for Çekmeköy in the local elections of 2019. While the AKP candidate won the mayoral office with 42.85% of the votes, CHP came in second with 32.25% and Sipahi came in third with 22.12% of the votes. Sipahi, who had a clear target group in Çekmeköy and collected 32,000 votes, ensured CHP’s loss with his candidacy at that time.
His son was at the top of the AKP list. During the ongoing trial against Sipahi, remarkable developments occurred during the local elections on March 31. Sipahi’s son, Uğur Tolgahan Sipahi, applied to the AKP to run for municipal council membership in Çekmeköy. The AKP district presidency also placed the name of Son Sipahi at the top of the list of 33 candidates for municipal council members and submitted the list to the Çekmeköy District Election Board on February 20. This situation reinforced the possibility of another victory for the AKP in the district.
The travel ban abroad was lifted. Meanwhile, there was a new development in the case where Sipahi was on trial. The lawyers of the defendants appealed against the decision of the 31st High Criminal Court of Istanbul to reject the lifting of the travel ban. Taking the appeal into account, the 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul accepted the request on March 1 and lifted the international travel bans on the five defendants, including Sipahi and the treasurer. Instead, the court decided that the treasurer and S