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Actress Hande Ercel was referred to the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul after giving testimony to prosecutors in an ongoing drug investigation that has also drawn in several prominent public figures.
Under the investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Ercel, who had been the subject of a detention order, appeared at the Istanbul Courthouse in Caglayan. After giving her statement to prosecutors, she was sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine so that hair and blood samples could be taken.
The move came as part of a broader investigation announced by prosecutors on March 25 into 16 suspects accused of either possessing narcotics for personal use or facilitating drug use. Turkish authorities said the operation was carried out simultaneously by teams from Istanbul's anti-narcotics police division.
Prosecutors had previously said 14 suspects were detained, while detention orders were issued for both Kaan Mellart and Hande Ercel. Among the names listed in the case were Fikret Orman, Guzide Aksoy, also known as Guzide Duran, Hakan Sabanci, Kerim Sabanci, Burak Elmas, Didem Soydan, and several others.
Following questioning, some suspects were sent to a criminal judgeship of peace, a lower court in Türkiye that handles arrest and judicial control decisions during investigations. Prosecutors sought the arrest of Koray Serenli, Onur Talay, Sezgin Koysuren, Tugce Ozbudak, and Mustafa Tari.
Others, including Kerim Sabanci, Hakan Sabanci, Burak Elmas, Fikret Orman, Guzide Duran, and Didem Soydan, were referred with requests for judicial control measures in the form of travel bans. Ferhat Aydin and Ismail Behram Perincekli were referred with a request for house confinement, while Onur Bukcu was released after giving a statement.
The judgeship later ruled that Koray Serenli, Onur Talay, Sezgin Koysuren, and Mustafa Tari should be jailed pending trial. Tugce Ozbudak was placed under judicial control with both a travel ban and house confinement.
The court also imposed judicial control measures, in line with the prosecution's request, on Kerim Sabanci, Hakan Sabanci, Burak Elmas, Fikret Orman, Guzide Duran, Didem Soydan, Ferhat Aydin, and Ismail Behram Perincekli.
Testimony by Hakan Sabanci, who was released under judicial control with a travel ban, later came to light in Turkish media coverage of the case. He said he had never used drugs at any point in his life and had not been present in environments where drugs were used.
Responding to allegations linked to Aygun Aydin, Sabanci said the claims were false and described them as slander. He said she was someone he had seen only once in the past and later treated as an obsessive figure, adding that he had obtained a restraining order against her.
When asked about Aydin's February 19, 2026, statement alleging that she had seen him use cocaine twice, including once at Bebek Hotel, Sabanci denied the account and said he had never gone there with her, in fact saying they had gone nowhere together.
He also rejected her claim that she had witnessed him using cocaine at his family's waterfront mansion in Kanlica. Sabanci said they had met once at his residence, on the middle floor, but insisted no drugs were used.
Sabanci further denied allegations tied to parties allegedly hosted by Kasim Garipoglu.
Asked about statements claiming that he and others attended those gatherings, he said he had never taken part in such events and argued that the mention of his name appeared only on an invitation list, not because he had attended.
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