Turkish mafia boss becomes YouTube phenomenon

For the past several weeks, husband and wife Gulistan and Alparslan Atas say they wait all week for Sunday to come. Sunday is the day a convicted crime ringleader posts the latest installation of his tell-all videos that have captivated Turkey and turned the mobster into an unlikely social media phenomenon.

"I wait in excitement and every week," said 38-year-old Gulistan Atas, who watches the show with his family in Istanbul.

From alleged drug trafficking and a murder cover-up to weapons transfers to Islamic militants, Sedat Peker, a 49-year-old fugitive crime boss, has been dishing the dirt on members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, which he once openly supported.

"Just like the 'The Godfather' and 'Scarface' are etched in everyone's memories, now Sedat Peker is on everyone's mind," said 41-year-old Alparslan Atas, Gulistan's husband.

In his hour-long videos from his stated base in Dubai, Peker makes scandalous but unproven drip-by-drip allegations in an apparent bid to settle scores with political figures he claims have done him wrong. The weekly videos posted on YouTube have been viewed more than 50 million times, causing an uproar, heightening concerns over state corruption and putting officials on the defensive. They have also exposed alleged rifts between rival factions within the ruling party and added to Erdogan's troubles as he battles with an economic downturn and the coronavirus pandemic.

Clad in a waistcoat or a half-buttoned shirt displaying a medallion, Peker taunts his opponents from behind a desk with neatly arranged notes, prayer beads and books by "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo or other writers on display, promising to bring their downfall using nothing more than a "tripod and a camera." His initial videos targeted former interior minister Mehmet Agar and his son, Tolga, a ruling party lawmaker, whom he accused of raping a young Kazakh journalism student and later covering up her murder as a suicide.

Mehmet Agar, Peker suggested, misappropriated a luxury marina that may have been used in drug trafficking operations. Subsequent videos leveled accusations against former prime minister Binali Yildirim's son, claiming he was involved in drug smuggling, and current Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu who allegedly betrayed Peker after he helped the minister defeat a rival faction within the ruling party. All those implicated have rejected Peker's accusations.

In an explosive claim, Peker said that a former security advisor to Erdogan - who is accused of leading a paramilitary force - had sent weapons to Al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria. Erdogan has not yet addressed those claims although the government has in the past denied allegations that it had armed jihadists and jailed journalists who first reported on that. Erdogan ignored the Peker videos for weeks, but broke his silence on May 26, when he dismissed earlier allegations by the mafia leader as a conspiracy against Turkey.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, have seized on the allegations to demand the resignations of implicated figures as well as parliamentary and judiciary inquiries into the allegations. The ruling party and its nationalist allies have blocked opposition bids to launch parliamentary inquiries into Peker's claims as well as into the allegations of arms smuggling. Authorities have issued a new warrant for Peker's arrest. Can Selcuki is the director of 'Turkiye Raporu,' a polling outlet that tracks public opinion in Turkey. Based on qualitative research on thousands of comments posted under Peker's YouTube videos, Selcuki says the mafia boss' popularity stems from a need for information.

"It seems to me people are asking this illegal operator these questions because they can't get answers elsewhere. And this tells me there's a growing demand in the Turkish society for more transparency," Selcuki said.

In April, an operation was launched against Peker's group, leading to the arrest of some 60 of his associates. His home in Istanbul was also searched. Peker maintains that he was forced to speak out after his wife and two daughters were allegedly mistreated and humiliated during the police raid to their home.