YENİ Parti Erzincan lawmaker Mustafa Sarıgül said that mistaking these fraudsters for businessmen may be a fault but is not a crime. The statement came via social media. In his statement regarding the investigation into his relatives, Sarıgül stated that his and his family’s contact with the individuals who are the subject of the investigation was limited to examining investments proposed to be brought into Türkiye. He also explained that once the individuals and projects were found to be unreliable, the contacts were terminated before they could become official.
Sarıgül claimed that the contract and bank receipts that were presented were fake, and that a 100 euro receipt had been converted into 100 million euros. He also deemed the notary certifications fake. He argued that the companies alleged to have been established were never established, that there was no inflow or outflow of money into Türkiye, and that there was no public loss.
He alleged that the individuals in question engaged in blackmail by sending the documents via email and WhatsApp. When they failed to get results, they reached out to Murat Ağırel. Noting that Ağırel had been suspicious of the claims and had not reported them because he could not find sufficient evidence, Sarıgül described the journalist’s arrest as a “great injustice.”
Emphasizing that as an opposition lawmaker he had no power to grant tenders, land or credit, Sarıgül said, “Mistaking these fraudsters for businessmen may be a fault, but it is not a crime.” Sarıgül continued his remarks. He also said that he has lived in the public eye for approximately 50 years and that there is no matter for which he cannot account.
Why it matters
The statement clarifies Sarıgül’s line of defense: he positions himself and his family not as the target of the investigation but as the party blackmailed with forged documents, turning the case into a two-way clash of allegations. In this picture, the authenticity of the documents becomes the central question, while it remains to be answered whether Sarıgül’s allegations of forgery and blackmail will be investigated separately. Ağırel’s arrest despite having been suspicious of the claims and not having reported them because he could not find sufficient evidence adds weight to questions about the grounds for the decision and brings a press freedom dimension to the case. His emphasis that, as an opposition lawmaker, he has no power to grant tenders, land or credit can be read as an effort to limit the political scope of the investigation; the process also keeps alive the debate over from what point onward the contacts of politicians’ relatives should be considered a matter of public concern.
Background
Sarıgül is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 2 stories mentioning this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated October 20, 2026.