Convicted Turkish mob boss meets with Dubai police officials after corruption allegations against AKP

Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mafia boss who has made uncorroborated allegations of corruption against senior figures in President Erdogan’s AKP party, has ‘voluntarily’ met with Dubai police officials and given a statement.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

14 June, 2021

Sedat Peker has made widely viewed YouTube videos alleging corruption among senior Turkish officials [AFP]

Former Turkish mob boss at the centre of a political scandal which has shaken Turkey met with police officials in the UAE on Sunday, Reuters has reported.

Sedat Peker was "invited" by Dubai police to make a statement and spent several hours talking to them before being released, his press officer said.

In May, Peker published a series of videos on YouTube alleging corruption and crime at the highest levels of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The videos have been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube but none of the mafia boss' accusations have been proven.

Peker has published nine videos so far and usually reveals a new one every Sunday. After his meeting with Emirati police on Sunday, he left his followers waiting.

Emre Olur, Peker’s media advisor, told Reuters that he went voluntarily and alone to meet with police.

"We had a conversation due to the depth of claims against me. The police told me that I am a guest in their country like everyone else as there is no Interpol decision against me," Peker later said on Twitter.

"They also said there is no problem for me to stay or leave the country," he said.

Olur emphasised that Peker had not been detained by the police.

"This is not an arrest... there was an invitation," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Peker gained notoriety as a mafia boss in Turkey in the 1990s.

He was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for leading a criminal organisation, robbery, forgery, and two instances of false imprisonment.

He left Turkey in 2020 and travelled to Montenegro and Morocco before arriving in the UAE. Olur said that Peker was now seeking to travel to another country.

In his YouTube videos, Peker made uncorroborated accusations against senior members of the AKP, including Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who he says tipped him off about impending charges allowing him to flee abroad.

The allegations range from rape, drug dealing, to involvement in assassinations of journalists and rival politicians.