The 95th hearing of the İBB case, involving 436 defendants, 53 of whom are in custody, including Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was held by the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court in the courtroom at Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri.
At the hearing, architect Prof. Dr. Yasin Çağatay Seçkin, for whom a detention order had been issued, who buried his father on May 8 and then went to the prosecutor’s office on his own to give a statement, presented his defense. Seçkin explained that he was appointed Head of the İBB Department of Parks, Gardens and Green Areas in 2019 while working as a professor at İTÜ, and that he held this position until 2023; he stated that he retired from İTÜ in 2025 due to heart disease and the health problems of his mother and father.
Seçkin argued that the joint procurement of plant material and the requirement of an ornamental plant producer certificate were the institution’s practice predating him, as demonstrated by tender records from 2014-2019. He said that if it is alleged that the certificate restricts competition, then the number of businesses holding this certificate should also be investigated.
Seçkin stated that he received no instructions from anyone to award the tenders to Ağaç AŞ, that he was not subjected to any pressure, and that he himself did not make any unlawful directives. Emphasizing that the internal operations of Ağaç AŞ were not within his area of responsibility, Seçkin rejected the charges.
Background
İBB is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: in the last 90 days we have published 10 stories featuring this name; the most recent is dated October 2, 2026.