Turkish mafia boss Kürşat Yılmaz visits MHP leader Bahçeli after release from prison
Turkish mafia leader Kürşat Yılmaz on Nov. 3 paid a visit to MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli after being released from prison where he was serving time on several charges, including “establishing and managing a crime organization.” The MHP shared photos of the visit on Twitter, referring to Yılmaz as a “lover of the country” and a “fearless brave man of his cause.”
Duvar English
Turkish mafia boss Kürşat Yılmaz has visited Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli at the MHP headquarters in the capital Ankara, after being released from prison.
Yılmaz was jailed in 2005 on several charges, including “establishing, managing a crime organization,” “qualified robbery,” “threat,” “deliberate injury” and “depriving people of liberty.” He was initially sentenced to 66 years and three months in jail, however, following an application for a re-trial this year, his sentence was reduced by 32 years.
After this reduction in his sentence, Yılmaz became eligible for release, and the Kocaeli F Type Prison freed him on Nov. 29 citing “security reasons.”
The MHP's official Twitter account shared photos of the mafia leader's visit to Bahçeli, and referred to him as a “lover of the country” and a “fearless brave man of his cause.”
Deniz Depboylu, a member of the MHP's Central Executive Board (MYK), also shared the visit's photos and the same message on her Twitter account.
In 2018, Bahçeli had referred to Yılmaz and another mafia boss Alaattin Çakıcı as “heroes,” calling for their release from prison. Bahçeli had made the remarks in response to campaigns that renowned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş be freed as the former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairman was running in the presidential election at the time.
In a social media post, Bahçeli had said on May 12, 2018: “Well then, if for example Alaatin Çakıcı, for example Kürşat Yılmaz, who are lovers of their country and are known to be fearless brave men of their causes, had been shown as a candidate with the signatures of 100,000 idealists [ülkücü], would a campaign also be held for the release of these heroes from prison?"
Shortly after Bahçeli's remarks, Çakıcı was released from prison and paid a visit to the MHP leader. Çakıcı later threatened main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and was found guilty on these charges.