(ISTANBUL) - Haluk Levent, who was detained within the scope of the investigation against the Friends Association, said in his statement at the police station, "I used friends' checks and promissory notes as collateral in some places. I owed a large amount of money. You can call this irregularity, but you cannot call it corruption." After one stage of his statement, Levent declared that he would "exercise his right to remain silent because he was not allowed to talk about politicians and state institutions."

According to the information obtained, Haluk Levent, the President of the Friends Association, admitted that he had a high amount of debt in his statement to the police. Claiming that the date of the operation was chosen consciously, Levent rejected the allegations of corruption.

In his statement, Risus Organization Ltd. Ltd. Stating that he is the unofficial partner of the company named Levent, he stated that the company does not make a profit. Stating that his assistant Yeliz Kaya uses two bank accounts, Levent stated that he has accounts at stock brokerage firms registered to Zafer Yay, the official owner of Risus Organization.

Levent, who also answered questions about Ahbap Association, Ahbap Economic Enterprise and Ahbap Logistics in his statement, said that these institutions do not have a checkbook in any bank and that they have the authority to issue checks. Stating that 4 billion 300 million liras came to Ahbap after the February 6 earthquakes and that he had announced this before, Levent said, "All invoices are available at the Associations Desk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within the 2023 financial audit. In addition, the audit of the 2024 and 2025 financial reports is also available at the Associations Desk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Almost all of the incoming aid money was used in our activities in the earthquake zone within 2 years. Especially to avoid illegal immigration, all invoices and "The delivery-receipt documents are registered in the Governorships of Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye and Adana."

Arguing that the investigation carried out against him stemmed from 20 real estate properties purchased for 80 million liras, Levent said the following in his statement:

"I wanted to give 20 immovable properties, which are currently worth 150 million liras, to the Friends Association for 80 million liras in order to make a profit for the Friends Association, and I had the decision of the Board of Directors taken in the decision book of the Friends Association regarding this. 80 million is my money. In return, 20 units of the Friends have flats. The 20 flats were purchased from Çerkezköy Land Registry Office in the name of the Friends Association about 3 months ago. Although our application was made, it was not received. The reason for this was that "the General Assembly of Friends will be held and then we will apply to the Provincial Associations Directorate and the title deed procedures will be done immediately." We took the decision from the general assembly for the real estate and applied for the delivery of the 20 flats. There is a decision of the board of directors of the association, which contains the information about the island parcels of the real estate in question. This decision is in the decision book of the association confiscated by the police department. Accordingly, our Board Member Yusuf Can Ertit was waiting to buy the flats with the Deputy Director of Çerkezköy Land Registry. If it had arrived on Friday, July 10, 2026, the 80 million lira that came to Yeliz Kaya for a year would have been legally paid off with interest. However, since it did not arrive, the 80 million lira that came to Yeliz Kaya is now being treated as a member of the organization. "If I had been detained today, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, there would be no money outflow from the Dude Association. But the operation was postponed to noon on Sunday, July 12, 2026, just so that everyone would be a member of the organization and everyone would be taken into custody. If it had been waited another day, the money coming out of the Buddy Association to Yeliz Kaya would have been in vain and people would not have been detained. This is a conscious, deliberate operation."

As Haluk Levent, unfortunately, I could not manage myself, my surroundings, or my work properly. I used friends' checks and promissory notes as collateral in some places. I got a large amount of debt. You can call this irregularity, but you cannot call it corruption. I was already on my way to correct everything that appeared to be an irregularity by the end of this year by recording it in the Dude's books, but this was not allowed.

From now on, any question you say or ask will have no meaning other than the explanations I will give below. So why did these checks and promissory notes begin to be written? The result cannot be explained without the reason in the interrogation report. Everything grew in tandem. The events we experienced during the earthquake dragged me into an inextricable situation. I already have a nasty weakness for trading on the stock market. The economic costs of the first two years of the earthquake caused me to trade more in the stock market and take more risks. I always owed this money. I have never played and received money from the Friends Association. If they claim such a thing, the chief inspectors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should first resign. Because in 2023, 2024 and 2025, our citizens will help with their sweat and our little children's pocket money.

All activity reports of the Buddy Association have been audited and no negative effects have been found. It was not me, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs inspectors conveyed this through their reports. These reports are available at the relevant organization and can be clearly viewed each year on the Dude Association official social media. They can open and see this right now. My question is for the year 2026. The Dude has flaws. Which association or foundation doesn't have one? But I was going to complete the deficiencies anyway until the new inspection came. For whatever reason, the 20 flats that I will give in return for this 80 million lira loan, I will explain it in detail on social media, are blocked by a hand one day before the title deed transfer and dozens of people, including me, are detained.

First of all, I will explain how my own economic crisis and then the economic crisis of the Dude Association developed. After the earthquake that occurred in February 2023, it became a matter of great debate in the country. "The donations received by the friend reached 4 billion liras."

In the continuation of Levent's statement, he stated, "Since I was told that the issues I wanted to answer about the politicians and government institutions, which I wanted to be recorded in the minutes, are not related to the question, they are relevant to the subject for me, and there are a lot of them. I cannot give my statement and I use my right to remain silent for further questions."