An audit report has raised questions over the finances and record-keeping of a foundation whose board of trustees includes senior members of Türkiye's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), according to documents submitted to an Izmir court.
The report by Türkiye's General Directorate of Foundations, which was presented to the Izmir 15th Criminal Court of First Instance, examines the financial records of the Türkiye Promotion, Research, Democracy and Secular Formation Foundation, known as TÜLOV.
Among those listed as members of the foundation's board of trustees are CHP lawmakers Özgür Özel and Veli Ağbaba.
According to the audit, the foundation's reported income increased from TL 99,000 (approximately $2,100) in 2020 to TL 268,000 in 2021 and TL 3.9 million in 2022 before reaching TL 37.4 million (about $805,000) in 2023, the year Türkiye held presidential and parliamentary elections. The report said expenditures for 2023 matched the reported income.
Auditors also identified what they described as inconsistencies in the foundation's "Askıda Bilet" (Ticket on Hold) and "Democracy Ticket" campaigns, which were launched after the devastating Feb. 6, 2023, earthquakes to help university students and displaced voters travel to their registered polling locations.
The report said nearly 19,000 ticket vouchers appeared to have been entered into the system more than once. It also cited more than 700 duplicate tickets and about 300 cases in which different passenger names were associated with the same electronic ticket number. Auditors further reported discrepancies involving national identity numbers, telephone records and ticket information, as well as differences between the foundation's records and those provided by a contracted bus company.
The audit also referred to allegations involving Muğla Mayor Ahmet Aras, saying that while serving as mayor of Bodrum, he allocated municipal property to the foundation for two years in a manner that allegedly violated regulations and that the foundation continued using the premises without paying rent after the allocation period expired.
