ERIC AT FUNDRAISER WEEKS BEFORE FBI RAIDS
Mayor attended function with members of two Turkish-American interest groups; thousands of dollars given
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 & 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 Campaign Finance Board 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 Campaign Finance Board spokesman declined to comment on the October event other than to say the board is able to announce enforcement actions, which can include fines, only after an election is over.
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.
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 borough president to help resolve building violations at Turkey’s Manhattan consulate and a dinner meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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 Eyup 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.
In addition to running an import-export business, Ulu confirmed to The News that he’s a board member of TACCI.
Photos posted on TACCI’s website show its members attended a Manhattan dinner with Erdogan in 2022, and the group maintains ties to other top Erdogan 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 Ozgur, Turkey’s consul general in New York.
TACCI has a history with Adams, too.
Its president, Ali Kocak, organized a dinner for then-Borough President 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 participated in
Adams campaign activities only 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 cell phones.
Ulu said about 15 people in total attended the October event and that most of them gave to Adams either on the day of the gathering 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 Erdogan that has a history of cultivating a relationship with Adams that dates to his borough president days and includes donations to his 2021 campaign, as first reported by The News in December.
Members of Erdogan’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-Erdogan direction,” according to human rights group InfluenceWatch.
Bayram didn’t return requests for comment this month.
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.