Agency admits supporting CHP event, denies payment amid 'hired participant' claims

Merss Production, an agency implicated in allegations of providing hired participants for a Republican People's Party (CHP) event, has issued a statement clarifying its role. The agency asserts that its involvement was purely voluntary and driven by friendship, aimed at supporting an individual named Samet Özkaş.

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As an individual who is devoted to the CHP, I mobilized all the resources of my agency of my own free will to support my close friend and colleague Samet Özkaş.

"As an individual who is devoted to the CHP, I mobilized all the resources of my agency of my own free will to support my close friend and colleague Samet Özkaş," Merss Production stated. The agency emphasized that it received no financial compensation from the CHP headquarters or its Istanbul provincial office for the organization or technical support provided. They stressed that their work was based on "friendship and volunteerism," not instructions from any institution.

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The organization and technical support provided were absolutely not for any material compensation from the CHP General Headquarters or the CHP Provincial Directorate.

These clarifications come after reports, initially published by BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik, suggested that the event, a membership and badge-taking ceremony, was artificially inflated with participants sourced through casting agencies. These reports alleged that individuals were paid approximately 950 Turkish Lira each to attend, with some participants reportedly rehearsed with slogans and given CHP Youth Branch vests.

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Our work was carried out not by instruction, but with heart and conviction.

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Gürsel Tekin had previously dismissed these claims as a "setup" and announced that a criminal complaint had been filed. He called for a thorough investigation into those responsible for orchestrating what he described as an "FETÖ-like scheme."

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This setup was created by whom, let the prosecutors go to the bottom. The responsible parties of this FETÖ-like scheme must be revealed.