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İlhan İşbilen

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İlhan İşbilen
Personal details
Born (1946-04-01) 1 April 1946 (age 78)
SpouseNebahat Evyap
OccupationBusinessman and politician

İlhan İşbilen (born 1 April 1946) is a Turkish businessman and former Justice and Development Party (AKP) politician.[1]

Biography

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He resigned from AKP in February 2014. İşbilen was charged under terrorism offences, accused of being a senior member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). He was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for his leading role in the 2016 Turkish coup attempt which resulted in the deaths of 251 people.[2] He denied all charges against him.[3]

He married Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, her family founded the Evyap Group, a major Turkish soap and personal care company, while both were in their 60s, allegedly upon the instruction of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, leader of FETÖ. Her name had also came up in the Panama Papers, which showed she transferred a large amount of money to offshore accounts in the tax haven British Virgin Islands before the Turkish courts ordered a freeze on the assets of the couple following the FETÖ investigation.[4]

On 15 November 2019 his wife Nebahat transferred to Prince Andrew, Duke of York £750,000 described as a wedding gift for Princess Beatrice, his eldest daughter, in the belief that it would help her to secure a U.K. passport after she fled the Turkey. She wanted help moving her assets out of Turkey.[5] The Duke repaid the funds.[6] Further payments of £350,000, were made to Prince Andrew and £25,000 were paid to his younger daughter Princess Eugenie and £225,000 to his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, on the directives of Selman Turk.[7][8] Selman Turk founded Heyman AI, the company that won a Award from Prince Andrew at a Pitch@Palace event at St James's Palace on 6 November 2019 and later liquidated. The media in Turkey to labeled Turk as a “banker for FETÖ”.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Wace, Charlotte. "Prince Andrew 'was given £1m linked to alleged fraudster'". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Erdoğan put a party defector under surveillance, jailed him on false charges". Nordic Monitor. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  3. ^ The Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Garnier QC MP. "Erdogan is playing politics with prisoners". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  4. ^ Turkish terror convict's wife sought Prince Andrew's aid, Daily Sabah 1 April 2022
  5. ^ a b Selman Turk: the exiled businessman who gave Prince Andrew money, The Guardian, 5 April 2022
  6. ^ Dixon, Hayley; Mendick, Robert; Ward, Victoria (31 March 2022). "Prince Andrew took £1 million from Turkish 'fraudster'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  7. ^ Prinz Andrews Töchter in Betrugsfall verwickelt, Bild, 15 April 2022
  8. ^ Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have been dragged into a multimillion-dollar fraud accusations involving their father Prince Andrew, report says, BI, 5 April 2022