Mustafa Sarıgül, a larger-than-life figure in Turkish politics, is now embroiled in investigations targeting his close circle. Soon after the arrest of his two sons in a fraud and money laundering probe, the lawmaker for the main opposition New Party (YP) saw his personal bodyguard, Ömer B., detained on Thursday along with four other suspects.
The detention was linked to an investigation into the Sarıgül family, including the lawmaker’s ex-wife. However, media reports suggest there may be more to the investigation into Ömer B., who was reportedly the man seen in a video that surfaced online two years ago. The video, which showed B. having sex with Mustafa Sarıgül, was “fake,” according to the lawmaker, who shared a report by independent investigators verifying the footage’s inauthenticity. The head of the firm that conducted the verification was also among those detained in the investigation into allegations that the Sarıgül family set up companies in Türkiye and abroad to launder money. The Sabah newspaper reported on Thursday that the firm had asked Sarıgül for $200,000 to prepare a fake report claiming the sex video was not authentic.
Ömer, Sarıgül’s younger son, was the first to be detained in the money laundering investigation, while his other son, Emir, has not turned himself in for days amid claims that his father used his parliamentary immunity to hide him in his own home.
Sarıgül alternated between business and politics throughout his career and made a name for himself as Türkiye’s youngest lawmaker in the 1987 elections. He rose to further prominence as mayor of Şişli, an upscale Istanbul district, from 1999 to 2014. After a brief stint leading a political movement, he rejoined the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2013, years after unsuccessfully challenging CHP leader Deniz Baykal in intra-party elections. Baykal stepped down in 2010 following a separate sex video scandal.
Sarıgül left the CHP again and established a new party in 2020. He returned to the party ahead of the 2023 general elections and was elected to represent his hometown of Erzincan in Parliament. He joined the YP after it was founded last July by former CHP Chair Özgür Özel. His latest stint in the CHP made him familiar to younger generations, as Sarıgül once again shot to fame with bizarre social media videos in which he is often seen slapping nearby objects and people in alternating fits of excitement and anger.
