Extras, background actors, unbelievable slanders
Berkant Gültekin
BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik’s revelation that extras were brought in via a casting agency for Kılıçdaroğlu’s badge-pinning ceremony in exchange for a fee of 950 lira has become the biggest news story of recent times. Ebru has achieved a journalistic success that is rarely seen; we cannot be proud enough of her. The report was so technically sound and its content so compelling that it instantly gripped the nation. There was hardly anyone left who hadn’t heard, seen or spoken about it.
The moment the story was published, there was only one thing the utterly incompetent leadership of the CHP should have done: apologise and state that those responsible would face the necessary consequences. That was all. However, they did the one thing they absolutely should not have done. They tried to deny a story as true as Mount Ağrı itself, claiming ‘there is absolutely no such thing’. As if that weren’t enough, they went on to slander Ebru and BirGün. They attempted to stir up a vile campaign not only through official channels but also on social media. Naturally, they were left looking like fools. To top it all off, they even filed a criminal complaint.
They were so clueless about how to manage the crisis that they came up with a new theory with every new piece of evidence. First they said, “There are absolutely no extras,” then, once it became abundantly clear that the extras had indeed arrived, they started claiming, “We’ve been the victims of a conspiracy.” Finally, they tried to pin the blame on Özgür Özel. They claimed that the ‘Samet’ mentioned in the agency owner’s statement—where he said, ‘I supported Samet’—was close to Özel. However, it later transpired that this Samet was one of the people close to Gürsel Tekin. They planned to sacrifice Samet, but once again they were thwarted by the truth.
Since Saturday, we have been hearing utterly preposterous slanders. The desperation caused by being caught red-handed can drive a person to do all sorts of things. Unfortunately, panic can sabotage one’s judgement to such an extent. Following our report, Gürsel Tekin appeared before the cameras and accused us of setting up a “FETÖ-style scheme” against him.
We’ve done something “that wouldn’t even occur to the devil”! So, it’s not the act of bringing in extras to the ceremony, but our exposure of this scandal that’s supposedly “something that wouldn’t even occur to the devil”. Not a very healthy perspective, but that’s up to him, of course…
On the other hand, Gürsel Tekin’s attempt to attack BirGün via FETÖ is not only comical but also intriguing. This is because one of the names Fetullah Gülen—the leader of this organisation—thanked in an advert he placed in the Zaman newspaper in October 2013, following a health issue he’d suffered, was none other than Gürsel Tekin, who was then Deputy Chair of the CHP. As is well known, Tekin’s party leader at the time was Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Now Tekin has come along making a dig at us about a ‘FETÖ-style trap’. Let’s send him a belated ‘get well soon’ message then!
Don’t get the wrong idea; whilst the regime bears enormous responsibility here, we’re not going to accuse Tekin of being a FETÖ member. However, someone who has conveyed get-well wishes to Gülen and received thanks from him should, for one, not go out of their way to attack an organisation like ours by invoking FETÖ. Furthermore, those who take refuge behind the FETÖ card whenever they’re in a tight spot still haven’t grasped what a virus this gang really is. FETÖ never used genuine evidence; it produced fake, fabricated or planted evidence and constructed so-called legal scenarios based on these. It conducted its frame-up trials in the same way. Our report, however, is documented, substantiated and entirely true to the core. Learn this distinction first.
One of the utterly preposterous claims is the money allegedly paid to BirGün… We cannot help but exclaim, ‘Have mercy!’ Quite apart from the fact that what they present as a ‘document’ is merely an Excel file printout, the sum they keep harping on about amounts to 3.5 million TL over three years. Have you really become that desperate? Could you find nothing else, so you’ve resorted to this figure? The sum you’re referring to is equivalent to the monthly wage payments made by a medium-sized organisation to its staff. Did you really think you could slander a media outlet with that amount? Do you take the opposition for fools?
No one stands a chance of buying BirGün under any circumstances, but with that sort of money, you could only afford a quarter-page article in a media outlet willing to sell itself. They’re trying to tarnish the reputation of our spotless newspaper with sums that wouldn’t even be enough to buy a coal bin in Istanbul. Even on a pro-government media channel, a commentator who heard this lie felt the need to intervene, saying, ‘That’s not a million, it’s a billion.’ Because even the pro-government crowd has a modicum of common sense compared to these charlatans. We’re talking about a disconnect from reality that would drive even Abdülkadir Selvi to distraction.
As part of the investigation launched today, we’re giving our statements to the press prosecutor’s office as ‘suspects’. In truth, from our perspective, there’s no suspicious situation here. Neither BirGün nor the public doubts the integrity of BirGün… The public support shown following our report is the greatest reward for us. This is how an independent newspaper continues to survive. Let others continue to play at politics with stooges and slander; we will not stop writing the truth for the good of the country.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Figürler, figüranlar, akıl almaz iftiralar, published in BirGün newspaper on July 29, 2026.