Confession in a letter ... I was forced to buy the plots

An earth-shattering scandal has erupted around the protocol signed between Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and Hattat Holding’s Managing Director, Mehmet Hattat, over the holding’s half-finished “Diamond of İstanbul” project in Maslak. Under the protocol, Hattat Holding donated eighteen plots to IMM and in return obtained approval for the billion-dollar project that had earlier been red tagged. The location of three of the plots that Hattat donated is highly significant. These three plots are situated immediately behind IMM Mayor Kadir Topbaş’s villa in Kumburgaz. In fact, businessman Hattat made confessions that will go down in history about the plots behind Topbaş’s villa in the two-page letter he addressed to IMM one month ago.

Mehmet Hattat, having inquired, “Why, in breach of the protocol, have you not converted these plots with planning permission beside his honour the mayor’s home Kumburgaz that you forced me personally to buy at a multimillion dollar price into religious facilities? Will they not ask in the days to come how it was that you denied permission and red tagged these civil works (Diamond of İstanbul) for seven years and certified the preliminary plan after having obtained the plots and other immovables beside his honour the mayor’s home?”, threatened to sue IMM officials for damages.

Hattat ended his letter, “I submit and request that you withdraw your proposal from before the Assembly and immediately licence my preliminary plan that you sent to Sarıyer Municipality annexed to the correspondence of 30 June 2016 before I forfeit my rights arising under the Regulation of 1 June 2013, so as not to create a new chain of events in these days of crisis and to avoid both actions for damages and the bringing of legal proceedings and also to keep the affair out of the press.” Following Hattat’s letter, the most recent proposal concerning the Diamond of İstanbul project was remitted back to the Communications Directorate.

The CHP’s Hüseyin Sağ, who sits on the assembly, calling on Topbaş to resign, said, “What does this letter testify to? It testifies to graft. The businessman says, ‘You told me to and I made the purchase.’” Here are some eye-catching extracts from the two-page letter that Hattat Holding Managing Director Mehmet Hattat addressed to IMM Vice General Secretary Ahmet Erhan Gökal on 14 October 2016, quoted verbatim:

-I spoke with the AKP people – I spoke with AK Party Group Vice Chair Mr Temel Başalan, the Planning Commission Chair Mr Hadi Diler and Communications Commission Chair Mr Mahmut Yeter on 12 October 2016. As I stated to them, the planning and project approval procedures in connection with the said plot proceeded as follows. (Hattat is describing the approval procedures in respect of the billion-dollar Diamond of İstanbul project from 2011 until today. The historic confessions start with the reference made to cancellation of the project mooted under a new proposal concerning the Diamond of İstanbul project submitted to the IMM Assembly in October 2016.)

-Why did you take eighteen plots into IMM’s ownership? – If so, given that these reasons raised by the Communications Planning Directorate had been in existence since 2013, what was the reason for drawing up the Unconditional Donation Protocol on 2 November 2015 and taking eighteen plots into IMM’s ownership before the preliminary plan was signed?

 ‘You forced me personally to buy them at a multimillion dollar price.’ – You said on 13 October 2016 when our company’s authorised persons Halil Beyenal and Gülten Vural visited your exalted person, “Apart from one plot that you have donated, we will return the other plots to you and we have made that one plot the site of a religious facility.” Why, in breach of the protocol, have you not converted these plots with planning permission beside his honour the mayor’s home Kumburgaz that you yourself appended to the list submitted to you and that you forced me personally to buy at a multimillion dollar price into religious facilities?

Threatened legal action – Legal proceedings will be commenced over the return of this plot made into the site of a religious facility and the other plots along with my other rights contained in the plan approved on 16 March 2011 and the protocol that was drawn up, and not only will both the actions for damages and this affair place their honours our mayor and the general secretary, the other authorised signatories and your exalted persons in a difficult position before the courts, but they will also give rise to speculation and various allegations in the press and public discourse concerning myself along with the aforementioned persons.

 ‘I tried to protect our mayor’ – Even though the special status of three staff members who were added to the list has been alluded to in the press with various allegations, although you are very well aware that I tried to protect his honour our mayor by taking full responsibility for the statements I made, this attitude of yours is incomprehensible.

Cancellation would have grave consequences -The cancellation of the plan is being mooted in the proposal made to the assembly today (he is referring to 14 October 2016) for the same reasons as under the 2013 proposal. If these reasons remain in existence, what was the reason for drawing up the unconditional donation protocol on 2 November 2015 – more than one year’s time has been spent needlessly and a vast amount of needless expenditure made. It has taken more than one year of all of our and all of your time. In view of the aforementioned process, the submission of the proposal emanating from the Communications Planning Directorate on 4 October following the passage of three and a half years to the Assembly at lightning speed six days later on the tenth of the month gives rise to a situation that will cause grave and very serious difficulties.