Espionage in MKE: Who stole what information and how?
İsmet Sayhan, former Chairman of MKEK's Board of Directors, was arrested on charges of membership in a criminal organization and espionage. Emin Öner, Chairman of the Assan Group, who had ties to Sayhan, was detained, and trustees were appointed to the companies. The actions of Sayhan and the other suspects questioned provide significant insights into technological espionage targeting critical state units. In addition to technical expertise, the defendants also made significant efforts to transfer experienced employees working at critical facilities. The prosecutor's investigation also revealed that Sayhan and the executives of the ASSAN subsidiary, now under trustee management, were so reckless as to store confidential information on their mobile phones and send it to each other.
HOW DID THE MKE ESPIONAGE INVESTIGATION BEGIN?
Although MKEK's former Chairman of the Board, Sayhan, was arrested this week, the investigation dates back much further. Before the investigation became public, MKEK announced in a previous statement that legal proceedings had been initiated regarding the "leakage of plans and confidential pricing information regarding the Turkish Armed Forces' artillery procurement," which implicated ASSAN and İsmet Sayhan. Following this statement, leaked information from the investigation revealed that Sayhan was also operating within the criminal organization. Seventeen suspects were detained as part of operations conducted in Ankara, Antalya, Muğla, and Samsun targeting the criminal organization linked to Sayhan, centered in Istanbul. Following processing at the police station, 10 suspects, including Selahattin Yılmaz, were referred to the courthouse and arrested by the judge. Seven were released, six of whom were placed on probation.The Sayhan file came to the fore again at the same time as news reports that Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who provided important information in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality investigations, was threatened, and it was understood from his statement that Aktaş was questioned about the threat.
WHAT DID İSMET SAYHAN OR CEM SEFA TELL?
Sayhan, who also served as MKEK's former Chairman of the Board, is primarily a lawyer. His statement taken on August 26 revealed that he also used the pseudonym "Cem Sefa" and wrote books under that name. Under questioning by prosecutors, Sayhan stated that his monthly income was between 500,000 and 600,000 lira and introduced himself as a "lawyer and lecturer."
İsmet Sayhan is also described as having connections with the structure called the "Selahattin Yılmaz criminal organization" and he was asked about this in detail.
Sayhan described his acquaintance with Selahattin Yılmaz in his statement as follows:
"I've known Selahattin Yılmaz since 2019. I represented him on his case at the Trabzon 2nd High Criminal Court. About a year ago, I resigned from his position as a lawyer after his case was finalized. I've gotten to know him through this... Selahattin Yılmaz called me and said he and former Gendarmerie Commander A.Ç. Pasha were having dinner together. Despite being busy at the time, I attended the dinner to avoid offending A.Ç. Pasha. The three of us had dinner together. I remember our last meeting like this. There's no business relationship or debt between Selahattin Yılmaz and me... We have a respectful and respectful relationship," he said.
While Sayhan described his relationship with Yılmaz in this way, prosecutors asked for details about the relationship using another document. This indicated that Sayhan did not have a "distant" relationship with Yılmaz. The phone examination of Selahattin Yılmaz revealed statements recorded during his conversations with İsmet Sayhan and the exchanges between the two, totaling 17 visuals. These photos were shown to Sayhan. Sayhan could not recall the photos of two people he had taken with Selahattin Yılmaz and the message he had sent to her.
AZİZ İHSAN AKTAŞ'S THREAT
The prosecutor's statement indicates that Sayhan knew another person whose name came to the fore in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality investigations and provided important information that broadened the scope of this investigation. According to the statement, Sayhan knew Aziz İhsan Aktaş and allegedly "threatened" him. He was questioned about this in his statement, and received the following response:
Threatening or harming someone like this is out of my league. Even if I were to hear about something like this by chance, if I understood its seriousness, I would inform the relevant authorities, even verbally. Similarly, if I heard about something like this in the future, I would report it again. The matters mentioned by the complainant, Aziz İhsan Aktaş, in his statement have nothing to do with me. I have not met with Selahattin Yılmaz regarding such an incident, nor have we had any conversations.
DEALING WITH THE TRANSFER OF CRITICAL PERSONNEL
His testimony also provides important clues about what prosecutors have on Sayhan and what has been revealed about his connections. During his testimony, Sayhan was also asked about who he shared tender information with during his time at MKEK and his involvement in the transfer of critical MKEK personnel to other companies.
Among the questions posed to Sayhan were whether he "gained an advantage in certain Defense Industry tenders by using confidential information in advance to gain an advantage in the tender" and whether he "transferred teams from companies conducting R&D work for high fees and ensured knowledge transfer." Sayhan merely offered general answers to these questions.
Following Sayhan's arrest, a significant development occurred: a trustee was appointed to a company called ASSAN, and its executives were taken into custody. Sayhan had stated in his statement that he provided "professional support" to the company. According to Sayhan, "Professional support was requested because the company needed an effective and effective restructuring, and because he is a corporate law professor, professional support was requested for the company's restructuring."
Sayhan stated that he accepted the company's proposal. This statement also clarifies that Sayhan was questioned about the departure of several key personnel from the institution during his time as MKEK's director. In his testimony, Sayhan also stated that he met Emir Öner, Chairman of the Board of Assan Group Machine Defense Industry Company, during his tenure as MKEK's Chairman of the Board, and met twice at MKEK's premises. Sayhan frequently reiterated that he had only served at MKEK for three months and was not well-versed in the institution. He was unable to explain why, according to his own testimony, he had met with a company executive twice during this short period. The statement further revealed that the relationship was not limited to meetings.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FROM THE PHONE
While Sayhan claimed to have met twice with Emin Öner, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Assan Group, which has been appointed a trustee, another question from prosecutors revealed the extent of their relationship. Allegedly, Sayhan passed some confidential information to Öner over the phone. This confidential information has been identified by prosecutors, and Sayhan attempted to explain it as follows:
Regarding the images, I don't recall such a post. However, even that image doesn't contain any information I sent. On the contrary, it's a quote from a message sent to me by Emin Öner, which I replied to. Therefore, the file I'm said to have sent appears to be a file Emin Öner sent me, not mine, which I'm not certain of. I don't recall that either. This is simply what's understood from the images appearing in the press.
ntv
