Former professional volleyball player Derya Çayırgan was taken into custody on Thursday in connection with the corruption investigation centered on İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB). Prosecutors have accused her of “laundering assets derived from crime” and sought judicial-control measures including house arrest and a ban on foreign travel, according to reports circulating in Turkey.
Çayırgan’s name entered the public conversation after appearing in testimony attributed to a social media figure detained in a separate, drug-related case. That overlap has contributed to public confusion, with competing narratives attempting to link multiple investigations into a single storyline. In the corruption file, however, the central issue described in the reporting is prosecutors’ suspicion that Çayırgan benefited from improper advantages and financial arrangements connected to the wider municipal investigation.
“I met him while walking in Taksim”
In her prosecutor’s statement, Çayırgan described her first contact with İmamoğlu as a chance encounter during the pandemic period.
She said she met him in 2020 or 2021, while he was walking in Taksim, and approached him in a crowd.
“I asked, ‘Hello Mr. Mayor, how are you?’” she said. “I told him I was a national volleyball player and that I played for Galatasaray.”
According to her account, the exchange was brief because of the crowd, but she told him she wanted to visit him formally. She said someone standing with him then gave her a phone number and told her to call when she wanted to come.
She continued: “We talked in the crowd. I said I wanted to visit him at his office. One of the people next to him gave a phone number and said, ‘Call here when you want to come.’”
Çayırgan said she later used that number to request an appointment and that, in 2022–2023, she met İmamoğlu at the İPA facilities in Florya.
“In 2022–2023, I called to visit. On the appointment date I was given, I visited him at the İPA facility in Florya.”
“My family was first sent to a hotel, then to municipal facilities”
A major portion of Çayırgan’s statement focused on the period after her home was demolished and how her family found temporary accommodation — an issue that has become central to the questions prosecutors are asking about possible “privileges” or improper benefits.
She said that in 2023, her home in Bahçelievler was demolished and she sought help from a friend who was then the district head of the CHP in Bahçelievler.
“In 2023 my house in Bahçelievler was demolished. I asked Özgür Çelik for help.”
She said her family and neighbors from the building were first placed in a hotel, and later moved into İBB facilities.
“He sent my family and the neighbors living in the building to a hotel. After a while, they placed my family in İBB facilities.”
Çayırgan said she was playing for PTT in Ankara at the time, returned to İstanbul later, and stayed with her family in those facilities for three and a half months while searching for housing.
“Because I was playing for PTT in Ankara, I returned to İstanbul after a while. I stayed there with my family for three and a half months. During that time I was constantly looking for a house.”
“He didn’t answer at first, then he called back”
She also described reaching out directly to İmamoğlu during that accommodation period, saying she found what she described as his personal number, called, initially could not reach him, and later received a return call.
“During this period, I found Ekrem İmamoğlu’s personal phone number and called him. At first he didn’t pick up, then he called me back. I thanked him.”
She said she visited him during that period and that they spoke largely about sports.
“In that period I visited him; we talked about sports.”
“Would you play for İBB? Would you work in sports management after volleyball?”
Çayırgan’s statement then shifts to a conversation she says they had about her professional future.
She said İmamoğlu asked if she would want to play for an İBB team; she replied that she could not because the team was in a lower league, but might consider it if they were promoted.
“He asked if I wanted to play for İBB. I said I couldn’t because they were in a lower league, but if they moved up a league, I could.”
She said he asked what she planned to do after her career and that she told him she had not made any plans. She then said he asked if she would consider a role in İBB’s sports administration after retiring.
“He asked what I would do after my career ended; I said I hadn’t planned anything. He asked if I would want to work in İBB’s sports management after I quit volleyball. I said, ‘Why not?’”
“I didn’t meet him face-to-face in Antalya… I visited him in Ankara”
Çayırgan said she later transferred to Antalya toward the end of 2023 and did not meet İmamoğlu in person there. She said she called at times but could not reach him.
“Toward the end of 2023 I transferred to Antalya. While I was in Antalya, I never met Ekrem İmamoğlu face-to-face. I made phone calls, but he didn’t answer.”
She added that after moving to PTT, she saw İmamoğlu several times in Ankara, saying she visited him when he stayed at the Marriott Hotel.
“After I transferred to PTT, when he came to Ankara, I visited him three or four times because he was staying at the Marriott Hotel.”
