TV anchor moves to cooperate as confessor in high-profile drug probe

ISTANBUL

Turkish journalist Mehmet Akif Ersoy testified at the courthouse on Dec. 30 after requesting to cooperate with prosecutors as a confessing suspect under the “effective remorse” provisions weeks after he was arrested as part of a narcotics investigation.

Ersoy was arrested during one of the early phases of a wide-ranging drug operation that has also implicated TV presenters, actors and business figures.

Following the operation, the anchor was dismissed from his post as editor-in-chief at Habertürk TV.

He has also faced allegations that he introduced women to men in his circle in order to gain professional and financial advantages and that suspects enabled drug use at their residences and supplied narcotics to women brought there.

In the aftermath, several female journalists claimed Ersoy promised career advancement in exchange for sexual relations.

One of the most significant developments in the case so far came on Dec. 30, when the 40-year-old journalist formally applied to benefit from the remorse provisions – a legal clause allowing reduced sentences for suspects who cooperate with authorities during the probe.

Brought to Çağlayan Courthouse under custody, he gave a statement to prosecutors.

Depending on the value of his testimony, prosecutors may recommend a sentence reduction or his release pending trial.

An official forensic test of Ersoy on Dec. 15 returned positive for drugs. Cocaine and its metabolites were reportedly detected in samples taken from Ersoy’s hair.

In the same investigation, hair samples from Ela Rümeysa Cebeci — a former program host at Habertürk — tested positive for cannabis, synthetic drugs, cocaine and their metabolites. Cebeci was subsequently arrested.

Fenerbahçe President Sadettin Saran was also briefly detained after messages between him and Cebeci surfaced during the probe, and after he too reportedly tested positive for drug use.