NYC Mayor Adams attended fundraiser with local…

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NYC Mayor Adams attended fundraiser with local Turkish-American groups

weeks before FBI raids

Mayor Eric Adams (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)

By Chris Sommerfeldt | csommerfeldt@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: February 23, 2024 at 11:53 a.m. | UPDATED: February 24, 2024 at 4:58 p.m.

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Less than a month before the FBI conducted a series of raids as part of an investigation into whether
Turkey’s government funneled illegal money into his campaign, Mayor Adams and a longtime aide
appeared at a fundraiser for his reelection run with members of two Turkish-American interest
groups, the Daily News has learned.

The Oct. 9 function, which took place in an apartment building in New Jersey, was attended by
multiple members of the two groups, the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(TACCI) and the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC). Participants gave thousands
of dollars to Adams’ 2025 campaign on the day of the event and the day before it, city Campaign
Finance Board records show.

Under city law political candidates must file disclosures with the CFB identifying as “intermediaries”
,

any individuals who host fundraisers for their campaigns in residential settings involving donations
that exceed $500 and are made “in connection” with the events.

Adams’ 2025 campaign has reported no intermediaries for the Oct. 9 fundraiser. Campaign attorney
Vito Pitta declined to explain why no intermediaries were disclosed for the event other than to say the
campaign reports intermediaries “as appropriate.”

A CFB spokesman declined to comment on the October event other than to say the board’s only able
to announce enforcement actions, which can include fines, after an election’s over.

Photo shows Mayor Adams shaking hands with Ali Kocak, president of the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Over Kocak’s shoulder is Adams aide Rana Abbasova. (LinkedIn)

Photos reviewed by The News show Adams was joined at the October fundraiser by Rana Abbasova a ,

staffer in his International Affairs Office at City Hall who first started working for him when he was
Brooklyn borough president.

Less than a month after the event, Abbasova’s home was raided by the feds on Nov. 2, part of a string
of FBI actions that first brought the Turkey probe to light. After the raid, Abbasova was suspended
from City Hall because Adams’ lawyers and sources said she had “ acted improperly ” by telling staffers
to delete texts exchanged with her.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is leading the Turkey probe, declined to comment on the
October fundraiser.

There’s no indication investigators in the federal probe are looking at the event, or the two groups
whose members attended it, TACCI and TASC.

But it marks the first known event involving donors to Adams’ 2025 campaign who are also members
of Turkish interest groups.

The FBI probe is believed to be focused mostly on whether Turkey’s government pumped illegal cash
into Adams’ 2021 campaign coffers via straw donors .

FBI agents leave the Brooklyn home of Mayor Adams’ campaign consultant, Brianna Suggs, after a raid in November. (Obtained by
Daily News)

Since the probe first became publicly known, several connections between Adams and Turkey have
emerged. That includes his Turkish government-funded trips to the country, political support from
Turkish groups in New York, an attempt as Brooklyn BP to help resolve building violations at Turkey’s
Manhattan consulate and a dinner meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Oct. 9 event marks another connection. The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing, nor
have members of the groups involved in the event.

According to a list shared by Pitta, Adams’ campaign raised $9,450 from eight donors in connection
with the October event. The News independently confirmed an additional $8,300 in contributions
made on Oct. 8 and 9.

One of those contributions came from Eyüp Ulu, a businessman who said in a recent interview he
helped host the event in a communal space at a building near the Lincoln Tunnel where he has an
apartment. With his son, Ulu gave a combined $4,200 to Adams’ campaign on the day of the event, the
max amount allowed by law, records show.

Inaddition to running an import-export business, Ulu confirmed to The News he’s a board member of
TACCI.

Photos posted on TACCI’s website show its members attended a Manhattan dinner with Erdoğan in
2022, and the group maintains ties to other top Erdoğan regime officials, according to leaked emails
reported by HuffPost. Other photos on the group’s website show its members have met multiple
times with Reyhan Özgür, Turkey’s consul general in New York.

TACCI has a history with Adams, too.

Its president, Ali Kocak, organized a dinner for then-BP Adams on Nov. 25, 2014 to speak with him
about “TACCI’s mission and its activities” and “possible cooperation,” a post on the group’s website
says. TACCI also posted Facebook photos of Kocak with Adams at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2015.

Kocak attended the October fundraiser as well, a photo on TACCI’s website shows.

The photo depicts Kocak shaking hands with Adams, while Abbasova, the mayor’s aide, stands in the
background. The photo’s caption described the event as a “reception” held “in honor” of Adams.

Kocak, who didn’t donate to Adams, said Ulu invited him. He said he attended because he believes
functions involving local politicians are important.

Abbasova declined via her lawyer to comment. Pitta said Abbasova has only participated in Adams
campaign activities in a “personal” capacity.

Abbasova hasn’t been criminally charged; she is the only person to date to be publicly accused of
impropriety in connection with the FBI probe. Adams was stopped in the street in November by FBI
agents who seized his cellphones.

Rana Abbasova (NYC.gov)

Ulu said about 15 people in total attended the October event and that most of them gave to Adams
either on the day of or in the days beforehand.

One of those individuals is Tahir Erimli, an ex-TACCI vice president. He gave $1,000 to Adams’
campaign via credit card on Oct. 9 before going to Ulu’s event because he said he was told it was a
“fundraiser.”

Another individual who attended and gave the legal $2,100 max on Oct. 9 to Adams was Huseyin
Bayram a restaurant owner and ex-deputy mayor of Paterson, N.J., whose eatery catered the event,
, a
TACCI blog post says.

Bayram is a board member of TASC, an influence group aligned with Erdoğan that has a history of
cultivating a relationship with Adams that dates back to his BP days and includes donations to his
2021 campaign, as first reported by The News in December.

Members of Erdoğan’s family are among TASC’s founders, and the group’s activities include “targeting
American citizens who are eligible to vote for candidates who can shift policy with Turkey in a pro-
direction,” according to human rights group Influence Watch .

Bayram didn’t return requests for comment this month.

Kocak speaks at an event hosted by the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in March 2023. (Mostafa
Bassim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

While the event happened at a building where he has an apartment, Ulu said it was co-organized with
Cemil Ozyurt, owner of the Turk of America magazine, and a businessman named Cuneyt Cakir.

Ozyurt, who gave $1,000 to Adams on Oct. 8, declined to comment this month, as did Cakir, who
didn’t donate.

Also on Oct. 9, Adams’ campaign accepted donations from Murat Agirnasli and Murat Sonmez.

Agirnasli, who gave $1,000, runs Agime, a real estate firm whose website says most of its New York
projects are done “in partnership” with KSK, a Brooklyn contractor that’s reportedly being scrutinized
in the FBI probe over allegations its executives helped facilitate Turkey’s Adams campaign straw
donor scheme. Erden Arkan, KSK’s owner, is listed as an Agime “advisory board member.”

Sonmez, who gave $2,100, worked as a KSK manager between 2007 and 2013, his LinkedIn profile
says.

Both Sonmez and Agirnasli told The News their donations were unrelated to Ulu’s event.

“It is just a coincidence,” Sonmez said.

This story has been updated based on additional information obtained following initial online publication.

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