The former press advisor for the chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Turkey has been shown to have stolen items from the handbag of a woman, as a video showing him in action was posted on the social media.
The video was shared by the Turkish daily Yeniçağ on Tuesday. Metin Özkan, a former press advisor for MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli, is seen in a security camera footage stealing items from a handbag during a social event while there are groups of people around him, and right after he has had a short chat with two individuals.
Özkan, a frequent commentator on various TV channels including Turkish news channel Habertürk, has claimed that the posted video was fake.
He said: “Some video images produced by the dirty hands who are and who always have been enemies of the state have been presented to the public.”
According to Yeniçağ, the incident occurred last December at the Istanbul restaurant, Masterchef, while there were about ten people with Özkan, including Ufuk Enginler who was robbed. Özkan is seen snatching some items, reportedly dollar banknotes worth $700, out of Enginler’s handbag and quickly pocketing them.
Özkan was an MP candidate in the 2015 general elections for MHP, currently a partner of the ruling coalition in Turkey alongside Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
