Witness testifies, Yanardağ delivers defense statement

A witness testified before the court before journalist Merdan Yanardağ delivered his defense statement. Lale Uğuzay, Yanardağ's assistant, rejected allegations that Yanardağ had received money from the driver of Seher Alaçam. "A driver could not simply come in to see you. No one could meet with you without my knowledge," she told the court. In his defense statement, Yanardağ argued that the case was politically motivated. "NATO is a bandit and imperialist organization. They are accusing people who have spent their lives opposing NATO of political espionage. This is the Ekrem İmamoğlu case. It is a political case brought to silence the opposition and to silence us," he said.

Yanardağ also denied allegations that businessman Hüseyin Gün had testified that he "played a role in the media aspect of these activities." Gün likewise told the court that he had made no such statement.

"They are afraid of us. We are here as part of a process of political violence. We are not facing a genuine political espionage case," Yanardağ said. He also criticized the appointment of Can Tuncay, whose signature appears on the indictment as the then-Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor, to the post of deputy justice minister. "Can Tuncay, whose signature is on this indictment, is now deputy justice minister. That is a political office. The AK Party government's signature is beneath this indictment," Yanardağ told the court. Defense lawyers criticized the replacement of the trial panel and prosecutor between hearings and renewed calls for Yanardağ's release.

Defense lawyers criticize panel change and court-appointed trustee

Yanardağ's lawyer, Selin Nakıpoğlu, objected to the change in the court panel and the trial prosecutor during the proceedings. "The panel that will decide my client's liberty today is not the same panel that heard the defense statements at the first hearing. A case file can be read, but defense statements must be heard," she told the court. Arguing that the indictment lacks concrete evidence, Nakıpoğlu said: "This indictment is essentially saying, 'You are a spy, but we don't know for whom, what you spied on, or how you carried out espionage. The court should figure that out.' That has no place in a state governed by the rule of law." Nakıpoğlu said Yanardağ had been held in pretrial detention for 253 days and requested his release."At this stage of the proceedings, there are no existing circumstances that make continued detention necessary," she said, asking: "What concrete evidence has been presented to suggest that my client would tamper with evidence, obstruct the proceedings or flee?" Another of Yanardağ's lawyers, Bilgütay Hakkı Durna, asked the court to revoke the appointment of a court-appointed trustee overseeing Tele1.

Durna said the only allegation in the case involving the broadcaster concerned a television program featuring former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. "There is not a single link between the television channel and the alleged offense. Irreparable harm will result. We request that the trustee order be lifted," he told the court.

Necati Özkan: "Espionage has a name, but there is no espionage"

After the defense lawyers concluded their arguments, Necati Özkan delivered his defense statement, criticizing both the conduct of the case and the espionage allegations against him. Referring to the replacement of the court panel and the trial prosecutor, Özkan said, "We are facing an unlawful and unethical case unlike anything seen in Turkey's history." He argued that the prosecution was part of a political process that began after Turkey's March 31, 2024, local elections and said the espionage charge was unsupported by concrete evidence.

Özkan told the court that the case file contained no findings identifying any information classified as a state secret, who allegedly obtained it, to whom it was passed, which country it was supposedly transferred to, or what was allegedly received in return.

"Espionage has a name, but there is no espionage," he said. "What concrete evidence is there that an act of espionage was committed? Please show it to us."

Özkan said he had met businessman Hüseyin Gün only once before the 2019 local elections and that they met again solely for a presentation related to Gün's efforts to sell products to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He said he had no contact with Gün after Sept. 3, 2019.

He also argued that he had no authority, official role or access to data within Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality or its affiliated companies, making any allegation of leaking information impossible.

"There is neither a state secret nor a data leak," Özkan said.

Concluding his defense statement, Özkan said news reports about the case had created a public perception that he was "a spy."

"If there is no truth, there is no law; if there is no law, there is no justice," he told the court, requesting an acquittal.

Defense challenges mobile phone records

Özkan's lawyer, Kazım Yiğit Akalın, challenged the prosecution's interpretation of mobile phone location records.

Referring to allegations in the indictment based on HTS records, which log mobile phone communication and cell tower data, Akalın said prosecutors had claimed that Hüseyin Gün and Necati Özkan had connected to the same cell tower in the northwestern Turkish province of Balıkesir.

"Forget the same hour, forget the same day, forget the same month; Hüseyin Gün and Necati Özkan were not even in Balıkesir in the same year," Akalın told the court. "One went to Balıkesir in 2021, while the other went in 2023."

Ekrem İmamoğlu then delivered his defense statement, criticizing the repeated changes to the judicial panel and describing the proceedings against him as politically motivated. Referring to the replacement of the judges during the trial, İmamoğlu told the court, "You are the 20th judge to be assigned to this case."

Noting that he appeared before judges in three separate cases on the same day, he described it as "an intense Ekrem İmamoğlu workday."

"I do not regard those who have reduced Turkey's esteemed judiciary to this condition as interlocutors," he said.

İmamoğlu argued that countries earn international respect through independent courts, legal certainty and democratic standards. "While strong countries around the world gain prestige through independent judiciaries, the rule of law and democratic standards, in Turkey a person who fears a political rival fights that rival in courtrooms through a judiciary under political influence," he said.

He said the section of the indictment concerning him "consists of nothing more than a photograph" and told the court that businessman Hüseyin Gün had visited him for only five minutes.

İmamoğlu also criticized the detention of comedian Deniz Göktaş. "A strong Turkey is one that does not fear ideas, criticism, satire or its own citizens," he said. "The issue is not satire; the issue is intimidation. The aim is not simply to silence one person, but to send a message to everyone else: 'If you speak out, you will pay the price.'"

Hüseyin Gün denies allegations

Businessman Hüseyin Gün denied all of the allegations against him, arguing in his defense statement that the accusations stemmed from an ongoing personal dispute with Seher Alaçam. Gün alleged that Alaçam had demanded 2.5 million pounds sterling from him and began blackmailing him after he refused.He said prosecutors had previously decided not to pursue charges in every complaint filed against him in connection with those allegations.Rejecting accusations of election manipulation and political espionage, Gün said he had conducted social media analysis free of charge using only publicly available information.

"Elections are won by candidates, not software," Gün told the court. "Whose spy am I? What state secret did I disclose? This should not have been the price of serving my country." Gün asked the court to acquit him.

Court orders continued detention of defendants

After the defense statements, the presiding judge announced the court's interim ruling.

The judicial panel ordered that the current addresses of witnesses be identified, rejected a request to lift the court-appointed trustee overseeing Tele1, and ruled that Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan, Merdan Yanardağ and Hüseyin Gün would remain in pretrial detention.

As he left the courtroom following the ruling, İmamoğlu said, "This is all trivial. It will all pass."

Yanardağ, meanwhile, said, "This is a court of despotism. Down with despotism, long live freedom."

The court adjourned the case until Sept. 29, 2026, at 10 a.m.