Gün, suspected in espionage investigation, admitted to analyzing people's private correspondence

An investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan, Merdan Yanardağ and Melih Geçek, who were suspended from their posts as Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayors after their arrest, for "espionage" is ongoing.

In his statement to the police, suspect Gün stated that he wanted to benefit from the provisions of effective repentance in matters that were in his favor.

Gün, who stated that he met the suspect, Merdan Yanardağ, through SA, whom he called his "spiritual mother," and that she provided him with financial support, said, "He is someone I respect in terms of his outlook on life. I know the conditions under which he publishes and the journalistic pursuits he pursues. He has a financially challenging publishing career. Therefore, because he is a legacy from my mother and because he is a journalist I respect, I would support him a few times a year in small amounts, such as 2,000-3,000 euros or dollars ."

Gün claimed that this support was purely for moral purposes and that he sometimes gave the money face to face and sometimes through his mother's driver.

A police investigation revealed that Gün's digital materials contained records of 5,697 people, including members of foreign intelligence agencies and high-ranking bureaucrats.

Suspicious Gün stated about the one-time, 393-second phone call he had with Richard Moore, who served as head of the British foreign intelligence agency MI6 from 2020 to 2025, saying, "I knew him from his time as British Ambassador. I don't remember the content of the conversation because so much time has passed. I met him through a retired banker we had in common, David Charters. I later heard from the press that he became head of MI6, but I had no contact with him during that period."

"Our system was equipped to provide data through illegal means."

Gün, who claimed that Aaron Barr, a former CIA employee and a partner in the company, prepared reports to be delivered to Ekrem İmamoğlu, said, "He would prepare the reports himself to be delivered to İmamoğlu. In these reports, Aaron Barr would determine the path İmamoğlu would follow and the issues he would focus on. I would forward the reports he sent to me to Necati Özkan, and he would forward them to Ekrem İmamoğlu."

Turkish transcripts of Gün's English WhatsApp correspondence with Barr were also included in the file.

In the correspondence, Barr was reportedly quoted as saying, "We can measure the audience, trends, perception, key opinion leaders, and ways to influence them. We can break this down to very fine details, even psychometrics. The way to be effective is to build key influence platforms and personalities, or to influence opinion leaders. We can provide this intelligence."

In another message, Barr was found to have said, "We read pages on platforms using social media profiles we create, but we do so much faster than a human could. This is called 'web scraping.' We may use APIs to provide broader access to data in the future, but there may be a privacy risk."

Regarding these correspondences, Gün said, "Our system was equipped to obtain data not only from open source but also from secret, i.e. illegal, means."

Suspect Gün was also asked about his phone contacts

It was determined that the IMM Spokesperson Murat Ongun was also in the phone book of the suspect Gün.

Regarding this matter, Gün explained, "At that time, the report that former intelligence officer Aaron sent me, and which I then forwarded to Necati Özkan, stated that spyware had been installed on Murat Ongun's phone. I passed this information on to Necati. I don't know whether he passed it on to Ongun. I warned against the possibility of data leaks in private meetings attended by Ekrem İmamoğlu."

During the phone examination of suspect Gün, 34 of his contacts, including 14 intelligence officers, bureaucrats, former ambassadors, and high-ranking soldiers, were questioned in the testimony. These included former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Chemi Peres, son of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Armenian President Armen Sargsyan, former Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Fiona Hill, US President Donald Trump ’s Deputy Assistant between 2017 and 2019, and Aytaç Ocaklı, who is alleged to have organized the smuggling of former prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, a FETO suspect.

Gün, referring to the phone book containing the numbers of former intelligence officers with ties to institutions such as the CIA, MI6, and Mossad , as well as many foreign bureaucrats, said, "It is normal for me to have the numbers of many bureaucrats or businessmen due to my business background."

"If I had known it was a criminal organization, I would definitely not have taken part in such an operation."

In his statement, Gün was asked, "It is understood that the investigation report of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the report prepared by the Financial Crimes Branch Directorate assesses that you are a leader of the İmamoğlu criminal organization. Have you ever been involved in any criminal organization?"

The suspect responded to this question on the following day, saying, "I was absolutely not involved in İmamoğlu's criminal organization or any other organization. I simply forwarded the analysis I had conducted to Necati Özkan, to be conveyed to Ekrem İmamoğlu and used during the election campaign. However, I had absolutely no knowledge that what I had done constituted a crime or that these individuals were a criminal organization. Had I known they were a criminal organization, I would certainly not have participated in such an investigation. I have explained this process above with all sincerity."

The report in question stated that he was the leader of the organization and that the suspects Necati Özkan, Naim Erol Özgüner, Melih Geçek, Emrah Yüksel, Iraz Bayrak, Şehide Zehra Keleş and İsmet Koyun were "members of the organization" affiliated with him.

"İmamoğlu would follow our instructions"

When asked whether he knew these people and whether they had any business relations or contacts, the suspect Gün gave the following answer:

I am not a member of this criminal organization. I have never knowingly or willingly engaged in any activity within the criminal organization. I have known Ekrem İmamoğlu through the media for years. My relationship with this individual stems from my activities with Necati Özkan. I would forward the reports to Özkan, and Özkan would then forward them to Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu didn't take action based on every report I made. In other words, because some of my reports were about Ekrem İmamoğlu's behavior and actions, he would implement them. In other words, he would implement our guidance regarding his nervousness or his approach to the conservative community. However, in certain situations, such as addressing the regions' expectations or concerns, Özkan would take the necessary action through the 'Istanbul Volunteers.' The reports we prepared were prepared by Aaron Barr and other members of my technical team.

Gün stated that he didn't conduct any analyses on how İmamoğlu should act or what he should pay attention to, and that these analyses were prepared by the technical team under Barr's management. He said, "The correspondence between rival party supporters was analyzed by Aaron Barr and the technical team. Precautions were taken against any negative news that might emerge. Necati Özkan also knew that this data was being analyzed using confidential, private correspondence. I informed Necati and others in the campaign, and even İmamoğlu, of the risks I was taking in this regard, through Özkan."