Sedat Peker, a Turkish organised crime boss in self-imposed exile in Dubai, has targeted Turkish government officials in a string of YouTube videos that have captured millions of views in weeks. Peker began the videos last month on May 2 2021 in response to a recent raid at his Istanbul home during which he claims the police tormented his wife and daughter. Peker left Turkey in late 2019, claiming to have fled a developing criminal investigation with the personal warning of interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, who allegedly promised to secure a return deal for the mob boss. 

Peker has been convicted on multiple occasions since 1998 for charges including: racketeering; forgery; robbery; false imprisonment; incitement to murder; and building and leading a criminal organization. His most recent incarceration lasted from 2005 to 2014 and coincided with his prosecution in the Ergenekon trials. He was released in 2014 after the Ergenekon trials collapsed for being found to be a "conspiracy" by the Gulenist Movement, recognised in Turkey as the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO).

Peker's videos have largely comprised uncorroborated confessions but have nevertheless gripped the Turkish public, particularly because he has openly implicated himself in many allegations. The Turkish opposition parties have also emphasised Peker's alignment with the ruling coalition government (AKP and MHP) following his release from prison in 2014, holding political rallies ahead of elections and the 2017 constitutional referendum. An opposition member of parliament recently divulged an official report revealing a police protection detail granted to Peker six years ago. 

The Accusations and Allegations

Peker's initial accusations were targeted at former finance minister Berat Albayrak and the allegedly influential 'Pelikan' group, a rumored faction within the AKP who Peker has held accountable for his self-imposed exile. However, Peker has subsequently taken aim at other key government officials, including current interior minister Suleyman Soylu, former interior minister and police chief Mehmet Agar, his son Tolga Agar, and former prime minister Binali Yilidirim.  

Peker has not yet launched any accusations at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who he has referred to as Tayyip Abi ('big brother Tayyip') in the videos. After weeks of silence on Peker's videos, Erdogan recently declared in a speech that the mob boss's assertions were a foreign conspiracy to subvert the Turkish government. In his speech, Erdogan proclaimed that the AKP rule brought an end to the mafia influence in Turkish politics that had surfaced in the 1990s after the infamous Susurluk scandal. 

Peker has postponed a video where he has promised to 'write off his debts' with Erdogan until after the Turkish President's meeting with Joe Biden. Peker explained that the decision was to avoid accusations that he was trying to weaken Turkey's hand before the NATO summit on June 14. In the weeks leading to the Erdogan video, Peker declared he would continue to reveal the apparent corruption schemes set up between top government officials, pro-government business people, and municipalities.

Until now, Peker's long list of serious allegations has taken particular aim at interior minister Suleyman Soylu. Peker claims to have backed Soylu in a purported power struggle against Berat Albayrak for the succession of Erdogan's presidency. Peker has expressed that Soylu was his 'plane ticket home', and that Soylu would pay for his alleged betrayal. 

Peker has also accused former interior minister Mehmet Agar of directing 'deep state' operations, ordering major political killings in the 1990s and recently orchestrating the illegal seizure of the $200 million Yalikavak Marina to facilitate an international drug trafficking network. Peker targeted Agar's son and AKP lawmaker Tolga Agar as well, claiming that the member of parliament raped and subsequently organised the killing of a young journalist who had filed a sexual assault complaint against him.  

A reminder of the Susurluk scandal

Whilst Peker's claims remain largely uncorroborated, they have evoked memories of the Susurluk scandal in 1996, which uncovered a link between the Turkish government, the police, ultra-nationalists, and the mafia. In a traffic accident that killed the deputy chief of the Istanbul Police Department, a member of parliament, and contract killer and former Grey Wolves leader Abdullah Çatlı, it was revealed that the state had cooperated with the mafia in its campaign against Kurdish militants. The revelation had forced significant resignations in the government including then-interior minister Mehmet Agar. The scandal was recognised as a validation of the so-called 'deep state', an entity that former Turkish presidents Suleyman Demirel and Kenan Evren publicly admitted of previously. 

As was the case for most mafia leaders in Turkey, Peker rose to prominence in the 1990s, with links to the ultra-nationalist movement. Soner Cagaptay, who directs the Turkey programme at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, underlines that the first years of AKP rule are marked by the absence of the mafia, with many bosses serving prison sentences. However, many of these mafia bosses like Peker have returned to the public eye in past years, notably under the coalition government between AKP and ultra-nationalist MHP. One important mafia figure who has reemerged is Alaattin Cakici, a rival to Peker who was released last year under a parole eligibility bill introduced to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Cakici has voiced public support for the coalition government against Peker's claims.

The current state of affairs

In a recent survey, the Operational Social Research Center revealed that only 22.5% of respondents found Peker's statements to be completely fabricated, whilst 68.9% of respondents agreed with the statement: 'the politics-mafia relations are still ongoing, as was also the case in the past'. The mob boss's testimonies are thought to have gained credibility because he has implicated himself in many of his allegations. He has already claimed responsibility for clandestine arms deliveries to jihadist militants in Syria, a botched hit on a Turkish Cypriot journalist in the 1990s, paying a monthly salary to an AKP lawmaker, injuring a former AKP lawmaker for insulting Erdogan’s wife, and orchestrating attacks on the Hurriyet newspaper offices at the request of a member of parliament. 

On June 6, Peker released his ninth video, elaborating on his previous allegations of corruption schemes between government officials, pro-AKP business people, and municipalities. He has also shared the recording of a FaceTime call he held with Erdogan's nephew-in-law, which appears to confirm the Turkish government's involvement in the weapons provision to Syrian jihadists. 

Interior minister Soylu has filed a criminal complaint against Peker before the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor. A parliamentary motion for the creation of an investigatory commission into Peker's allegations was rejected on May 26 by AKP and MHP parliamentarians. An anonymous AKP official who subsequently spoke to Bloomberg reportedly disclosed that a majority of AKP executives actually desire such an investigation.