Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said he had nothing to do with a slew of allegations implicating him in a $50 million bribery scandal, it emerged on Wednesday, as he ordered police to investigate the reports.
The story came to light by investigative journalist Cevheri Guven, who shared an audio saying former Turkish vice-president and Cyprus problem adviser in Turkey Fuat Oktay, received a $50 million ‘gift’ from someone in Turkish Cypriot businessman Halil Falyali’s circle.
Tatar was reportedly the mediator of the deal, however he ardently denied ever having anything to do with the matter.
“I neither heard nor saw anything. It has nothing to do with me.”
“I have no knowledge, and I don’t believe [Mr Fuat] Oktay would engage in such a thing.”
The audio is a recording of calls from Cemil Onal, who is currently serving time in a Dutch jail. Onal is a former associate of Falyali and claims in the audio that the Falyali family handed over the $50 million to Oktay, in exchange for ‘immunity’ to the Faliyali family’s assets in Turkey.
Onal described how Falyali contacted Tatar through Alihan Pehlivan, the editor-in-chief of Gundem Kıbrıs daily, shortly after her husband’s murder.
This allegedly paved the way for the $50 million bribery scheme coordinated by Tatar.
Falyali was murdered in 2022, a year after Turkish organized crime boss Sedat Peker made allegations implicating Turkey’s government in an an international cocaine ring extending from Venezuela to the Middle East.
According to the allegations, the money was laundered by Falyali in the north.