12 December 2024
The İstanbul Anatolian 6th Commercial Court of First Instance began proceedings against investigative journalist Timur Soykan and BirGün newspaper in a compensation lawsuit of 1 million Turkish Lira over two reports published on 5 June 2024, titled “550 million loan from Halkbank to the mafia” and “Loan from Halkbank to the mafia.”
The lawsuit petition alleged that the reports damaged Halkbank’s commercial reputation. In his report, Soykan wrote—based on a MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) report prepared as part of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation—that Kaplan received more than 550 million TL in loans from Halkbank through front companies.
At the end of the hearing, the court decided to send the case file to an expert panel for examination of the MASAK report and the full case file.
The hearing was monitored in solidarity by BirGün representatives Yaşar Aydın and Elif İlgaz, as well as RSF (Reporters Without Borders) representative Erol Önderoğlu.
The case was adjourned to 10 April 2025.
10 April 2025
At the 10 April hearing of the civil lawsuit filed against investigative journalist Timur Soykan and BirGün newspaper over the 5 June 2024 article titled “550 Million Lira Loan from Halkbank to the Mafia,” the İstanbul Anadolu 6th Commercial Court of First Instance ruled to refer the file to an expert to examine the MASAK report and the full case file. The lawsuit, seeking 1 million TL in damages, alleges that the report harmed Halkbank’s commercial reputation. The next hearing is scheduled for 2 October 2025 at 11:10 a.m., pending the expert report.
