Whistleblower or vengeful ex-con? Mafia boss Sedat Peker stirs up a political storm in Turkey

A photograph taken on May 26, 2021 in Istanbul shows Sedat Peker speaking on his YouTube channel on a mobile phone. (AFP)
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Updated 02 June 2021
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Whistleblower or vengeful ex-con? Mafia boss Sedat Peker stirs up a political storm in Turkey

  • Government figures reject accusations of corruption, weapons and drug trafficking and helping militants in Syria
  • Accusations cover official mismanagement, absence of rule of law, and rivalries between security apparatus and judiciary

DUBAI: Millions of Turks are waiting with bated breath for the next bombshell video from fugitive organized crime boss Sedat Peker — in which he is expected to detail his ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Peker, 49, a prominent mafia figure since the 1990s, regularly moves to avoid capture by Turkish authorities, having fled from Turkey last year to avoid a criminal investigation.

On May 26, the chief public prosecutor’s office in Ankara issued a new arrest warrant for Peker on suspicion of being in league with Fethullah Gulen, the US-based preacher who Turkey blames for a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016.

In a series of videos, which have reached millions of viewers on YouTube, Peker has unleashed a deluge of accusations of corruption, mismanagement and connections to organized crime within Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

His allegations, which have rattled the political establishment, include drugs and weapons trafficking, and longtime cooperation between senior Turkish officials and Al-Nusra militants in Syria.




Turkish military vehicles, part of a convoy, drive through the town of Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on October 20, 2020, after vacating the Morek post in Hama's countryside. (AFP/File Photo)

Peker’s videos feel like “live reporting from inside the gang” and should be taken seriously, Gokcer Tahincioglu, a Turkish investigative journalist, told Reuters.

“There is a confessor who is not anonymous and who wants to speak of his own accord. Why shouldn’t he be heard? He must be heard.”

In what appears to be a concerted campaign to blacken the names of his estranged accomplices, Peker’s allegations cover corrupt practices, the absence of the rule of law, and rivalries between the security apparatus and the judiciary.

Peker says that his statements are designed to “take revenge” on the Turkish government and especially Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who allowed police officers to raid his home in April after he fell out with the regime.

Soylu has rejected accusations against him, which include extending Peker’s police protection after he left jail and warning him of a crackdown on his organization.

He has called the claims “disgusting lies” and a plot against the country.




Peker said his statements are designed to “take revenge” on the Turkish government and especially Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, pictured at a press conference in Ankara. (AFP/File Photo)

Erdogan has vigorously defended his government’s record on tackling organized crime. “We have crushed criminal organizations one by one for 19 years,” he told lawmakers on May 26, insisting he stands “side by side” with Soylu.

Peker resurfaced again on May 30 in his eighth video, this time accusing the country’s rulers of conspiring with a paramilitary force to send weapons to Al-Qaeda-linked terror groups in Syria.

Peker claimed Turkey sent weapons to Al-Nusra Front militants through a paramilitary group named SADAT, formed in 2012 by a retired general and 23 officers who were expelled from the armed forces due to their Islamist allegiances.

Al-Nusra Front, which is now called Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), retains control of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, which hugs Turkey’s southern border.

In his video, Peker alleges that doing “big business” in Syria requires the permission of not only the presidential head of administrative affairs, Metin Kiratli, but also of pro-government businesspeople and a senior Al-Nusra militant, Abu Abdurrahman.

Peker also implied that the money trail could never be tracked back to the Turkish state after it was hidden by a “corrupt network” with the help of the interior minister.

The Turkish YouTube sensation

* Fugitive mafia boss Sedat Peker has been making headlines with his claims about prominent political figures in Turkey.

* His tell-all videos aim to seek revenge against those who discredited him in favor of rival mobster Alaattin Cakici.

* IMDb has listed Peker’s videos as a TV mini-series under the topics ‘biography,’ ‘crime’ and ‘reality TV.’

He claimed to have arranged to send military equipment to Syrian Turkmen and shared the plan with an AKP lawmaker in order to receive permission to dispatch the trucks in 2015.

He also claimed to have opposed sending aid to Al-Nusra Front because the group was fighting Turkmen minorities in Syria. He said that the trucks were diverted and sent to Al-Nusra fighters instead by a group within SADAT.

“They diverted aid trucks for Turkmen to Al-Nusra under my name, but I didn’t send them — SADAT did. I was informed about it by one of our Turkmen friends,” Peker said in the video.

The paramilitary company is closely linked to the Turkish government and allegedly played a role in recruiting and providing training to militants during the Syrian and Libyan civil wars.

Peker has been in and out of prison since 1998 on charges that include racketeering, forgery, robbery, false imprisonment, incitement to murder, and building and leading a criminal organization.




Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, take part in a military parade marking the graduation of a new batch of cadets. (AFP/File Photo)

Among the politicians skewered in his videos is Binali Yildirim, another former prime minister and now deputy leader of the AKP. Peker said that Yildirim’s son Erkam had made frequent trips to Venezuela to set up a new international drug trafficking route to Turkey.

Yildirim claimed Erkam’s trips were to deliver COVID-19 aid, but his defense backfired when Turkish customs data showed that no such medical equipment left Turkey on the dates in question.

Peker’s claims have infuriated the Erdogan government.

“Peker showed that he acts under the orders of Turkey’s enemies and domestic evil alliances with his ridiculous statements,” chief presidential adviser Oktay Saral said. “Our state will do what’s needed and all powers will recognize that this country won’t be damaged with such acts of nonsense.”

Nevertheless, a new survey by the polling company Avrasya suggests that most Turks — 75 percent — believe Peker’s claims.

“When the AKP was established in mid-2001, corruption was one of the vices it promised to eradicate, but it has now become even more widespread,” Yasar Yakis, a former Turkish foreign minister and a founding member of the AKP, wrote in a recent column for Arab News.

“Peker’s disclosures have opened a debate in Turkey on whether this could be an opportunity to bring an end to the devastating corruption that ruins all structures of the state.”




Peker claims that the son of former prime minister Binali Yildirim went to Venezuela with the intention to set up a new route for cocaine smuggling in the country. (AP/File Photo)

Peker’s accusations have triggered an in-depth look into the country’s deep-state apparatus. At the center of this scrutiny are the trials of Mehmet Agar, a former interior minister and police chief, and Korkut Eken, a former intelligence official.

Agar and Eken will be retried over 18 extrajudicial killings that occurred in the 1990s after an appeals court decided to reverse their acquittals in a ruling that was adopted on April 5. The court asserted that the evidence was not suitably examined.

Agar and Eken have made fresh headlines following allegations by Peker, who accused them of committing several unlawful acts under the state apparatus, including involvement in an international drug-smuggling scheme and the assassination of investigative journalists Ugur Mumcu and Kutlu Adali.

Journalist and peace advocate Adali was shot dead outside his home in July 1996 in the northern Cyprus administration. The murder has remained unsolved.

Adali’s spouse filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey, and in March 2005 the court found that Ankara had not conducted a proper investigation into the murder of the Turkish Cypriot journalist.

Last week, Turkish police detained Atilla Peker, brother of Sedat, after he said that he assigned his brother to a botched mission to kill Adali 25 years ago on the orders of the state.

Mumcu was killed by a car bomb in January 1993 outside his apartment in Ankara. Peker alleged Agar had a hand in the killing.

It remains to be seen how the Turkish government will handle the fallout from the accusations, and whether Soylu, who is at the center of claims over state-mafia relations, will resign.




Turkey-backed Syrian fighters load their weapons at a position on outskits of the villages of Afis and Salihiyah situated near the regime-controlled town of Saraqib. (AFP/File Photo)

The first notable reaction to Peker’s disclosures came from veteran political figure Cemil Cicek, a former minister of justice and speaker of parliament.

When a few high-level members of the AKP raised their voices against corruption, he said: “If one thousandth of what Peker says turns out to be true, this is already a disaster for the country.

“Public prosecutors who hear or read such scandalous news do not need an instigation to take action. They are expected to prosecute these allegations on their own initiative without being asked or instructed to do so.”

If Peker continues blowing the whistle on his past ties with the highest echelons, it could prove a serious litmus test for the Turkish government’s popularity and its ability to act against the criminal underworld ahead of elections scheduled for 2023.

The accusations could undermine the ratings of a government that has already lost considerable public support.

As for the likely implications for voter behavior, the AKP and its far-right ally the Nationalist Movement Party have been steadily losing popular support.

“This decline is not reversible. No doubt about it,” Sinem Adar, associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Arab News. “Peker’s allegations are, in this sense, another hit to an already losing alliance.

“More than the electoral support, however, the damage reflects itself more in terms of solidifying and accentuating the already existing conflict and competition among different cliques within the ruling alliance.”


How many hostages are left in Gaza?

Updated 4 sec ago
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How many hostages are left in Gaza?

Israel said Sunday that it has recovered the bodies of three more hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that ignited the ongoing 20-month war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military identified them as Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. All three were killed during the initial attack and their bodies were taken into Gaza. Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son’s remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan’s 23rd birthday.
The military did not provide details about the operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is committed to returning the remaining hostages even as it wages a new military campaign against Iran.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack. More than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Here are details on the hostages:
Total hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023: 251
Hostages taken before the Oct. 7 attack: 4, including 2 who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015 and the bodies of 2 soldiers killed in the 2014 war
Hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 148, of whom 8 were dead
Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli forces: 49
Hostages rescued alive: 8
Hostages still in captivity: 50, of whom Israel believes 27 are dead. Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several more.
The hostages in captivity include four non-Israelis: 2 Thais and 1 Tanzanian who have been confirmed dead, and a Nepalese captive.

Israel, US crossed ‘very big red line’ with attack: Iranian FM

Updated 2 min 5 sec ago
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Israel, US crossed ‘very big red line’ with attack: Iranian FM

  • Abbas Araghchi also said that he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin

ISTANBUL: The US and Israel crossed a major red line in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, just hours after a US strike on its nuclear facilities.

“There is no red line that they have not crossed. And the last one, and the most dangerous one, happened only last night. They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities,” he said.

Araghchi also said that he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday following the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I’m going to Moscow this afternoon” and will hold “serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow” morning, Araghchi said at a press conference in Istanbul on the sidelines of an OIC summit.


Iran missile barrage hits three areas in Israel, 23 hurt

Updated 22 June 2025
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Iran missile barrage hits three areas in Israel, 23 hurt

  • Public broadcaster KAN 11 showed images of a devastated building surrounded by mounds of rubble

JERUSALEM: Three areas of Israel including coastal hub Tel Aviv were hit Sunday morning during waves of Iranian missile attacks, with at least 23 people injured, according to rescue services and police.

Several buildings were heavily damaged in the Ramat Aviv area in Tel Aviv, with holes torn in the facades of apartment blocks.

“Houses here were hit very, very badly,” Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters at the scene. “Fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside.

“Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay.”

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The Israeli police said in a statement that they had been deployed to at least two other impact sites, one in Haifa in the north and another in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.

A public square in a residential area of Haifa was left strewn with rubble and surrounding shops and homes have been heavily damaged, AFP photos showed.

Eli Bin, the head of Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom, told reporters that a total of 23 people had been wounded nationwide in the attacks, with “two in moderate condition and the rest lightly injured.”

Two waves of missiles were launched at Israel from around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the Israeli military said.

Sirens rang across the country, with air defenses activated shortly afterwards, causing loud explosions heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israeli police reported “the fall of weapon fragments” in a northern area encompassing the port of Haifa, where local authorities said emergency services were heading to an “accident site.”

Reporting on missile strikes is subject to strict military censorship rules in Israel, but at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nation-wide and 25 people have been killed since the war began with Iran on June 13, according to official figures.

Tel Aviv, the southern city of Beersheba and the northern port of Haifa have been the three areas most frequently targeted by Iran.

Israel’s sophisticated air defenses have intercepted more than 450 missiles along with around 1,000 drones, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military.


Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official

Updated 22 June 2025
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Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official

  • The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week
  • The embassy and the consulate remain operational

BAGHDAD: More personnel from the United States diplomatic mission departed Iraq over the weekend as part of ongoing efforts to reduce embassy staffing amid “regional tensions,” a US official said Sunday after Washington attacked Iranian nuclear sites.
“As part of our ongoing effort to streamline operations, additional personnel departed Iraq on June 21 and 22,” the US official told AFP.
The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week “out of an abundance of caution and due to heightened regional tensions,” he added.
The embassy and the consulate remain operational.
Earlier on Sunday, Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran as President Donald Trump announced US strikes on Iran’s main nuclear sites.
Iran had threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.
Fears are growing in Iraq over a possible intervention by Iran-backed armed factions, who have threatened Washington’s interests in the region if it were to join Israel in its war against Iran.
Iraq, which has for years been navigating a delicate balancing act between Tehran and Washington, has long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.


Airlines keep avoiding Middle East airspace after US operation in Iran

Updated 22 June 2025
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Airlines keep avoiding Middle East airspace after US operation in Iran

  • Choose other routings such as north via the Caspian Sea or south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia
  • New flight paths result in higher fuel and crew costs and longer flight times

Airlines continued to avoid large parts of the Middle East on Sunday after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, with traffic already skirting airspace in the region due to recent missile exchanges.

“Following US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, commercial traffic in the region is operating as it has since new airspace restrictions were put into place last week,” FlightRadar24 said on social media platform X.

Its website showed airlines were not flying in the airspace over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. They have chosen other routings such as north via the Caspian Sea or south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, even if it results in higher fuel and crew costs and longer flight times.

READ: Trump tells Iran ‘peace or tragedy’ in special address after main nuclear sites bombed

Missile and drone barrages in an expanding number of conflict zones globally represent a high risk to airline traffic.

Since Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 13, carriers have suspended flights to destinations in the affected countries, though there have been some evacuation flights from neighboring nations and some bringing stranded Israelis home.

Israel’s two largest carriers, El Al Israel Airlines and Arkia, said on Sunday they were suspending rescue flights that allowed people to return to Israel until further notice. El Al said it would also extend its cancelation of scheduled flights through June 27.

Israel’s airports authority said the country’s airspace was closed for all flights, but land crossings with Egypt and Jordan remained open.

Japan’s foreign ministry said on Sunday it had evacuated 21 people, including 16 Japanese nationals, from Iran overland to Azerbaijan. It said it was the second such evacuation since Thursday and that it would conduct further evacuations if necessary.

New Zealand’s government said on Sunday it would send a Hercules military transport plane to the Middle East on standby to evacuate New Zealanders from the region.

It said in a statement that government personnel and a C-130J Hercules aircraft would leave Auckland on Monday. The plane would take some days to reach the region, it said.

The government was also in talks with commercial airlines to assess how they may be able to assist, it added.