MHP leader's ex-media advisor caught stealing money from woman's purse

Turkish daily Yeniçağ has shared a footage of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli's former media advisor Mehmet Özkan stealing 700 dollars from a woman’s purse at a restaurant. While Özkan denied the reports, the woman in question said that she didn’t file a complaint because she was afraid of Özkan’s political connections.

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The far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s former media advisor Metin Özkan was caught stealing money from a woman's purse at a restaurant in Istanbul in Dec. 2021, the daily Yeniçağ reported and published the footage of the incident.

The footage shows Özkan taking 700 dollars from Ufuk Enginler's bag which she had temporarily left at the entrance of the restaurant.

Enginler told daily Yeniçağ that she didn’t file a complaint because she was afraid of Özkan’s political connections. She said she does not personally know Özkan but the two have common friends, which is why she sat at the same table with him that day.

Enginler said that Özkan wanted to give the money back later, but she didn’t accept it. She also said she didn’t see him after the incident.

“I have not filed a complaint against Metin Özkan. I held myself back due to his political side, due to his being MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli's advisor. I have referred him to God. I do not know him in person,” she said.

Özkan slammed the footage as a slander, claiming that it was fabricated by “by some dirty hands that are hostile to the state.”