Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı

Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı (born 14 February 1965) is a Turkish politician and former Member of Parliament for Istanbul, representing the Justice and Development Party during the 26th and 27th terms of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. He gained public attention for the 2017 "Yeliz incident", where he was linked to a social media account that sparked controversy, earning him the nickname "Yeliz".

Early life Çamlı was born on 14 February 1965 in the Fatih district of Istanbul. He is the son of Zeki Çamlı, one of the founders of the National Salvation Party and the short lived National Order Party.

Çamlı has stated he graduated from Newport International University with a degree in Behavioral Sciences. However, the legitimacy of this institution has been questioned. Newport University, originally founded in 1976 in California, USA, operates primarily as a distance education provider, offering certificate, undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs.

Political career He began his political career at a young age by joining the independent movements led by Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the Milli Görüş movement, which his father Ahmet Zeki had supported. He held various positions in the provincial, district and central organisations of these movements.

He served as a volunteer driver for Erbakan and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Çamlı has claimed he was imprisoned in Metris Prison alongside Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the age of 14.

In 2025, Çamlı was also implicated in a controversy involving alleged discounted property purchases from , an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality housing company, during the AKP’s tenure, raising questions about preferential treatment.

On 6 July 2025, he posted on X, describing the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 as a "bloody coup" and referring to Turkey as "Çamuristan" (land of mud). The statements provoked widespread backlash, with opposition leaders, including CHP’s Özgür Özel who called Çamlı a "dishonorable organism", and social media users condemning Çamlı for disrespecting the Republic and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Furthermore, Özel announced that CHP MPs and all 81 provincial chairs would file criminal complaints against Çamlı for insulting the Republic and inciting hatred. The Atatürkist Thought Association also filed a criminal complaint. CHP branches in cities such as Manisa and Bursa submitted similar complaints, and İYİ Party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu joined in condemning Çamlı’s remarks, stating that he would also file a complaint.

AK Party, through spokesperson Ömer Çelik, distanced itself from Çamlı’s remarks, affirming the Republic as a "precious asset," but faced criticism for not taking stronger action. In response, Çamlı denied being anti-Republic, accusing critics of twisting his words and calling them “Çamuriyetçi” (mud-slingers). He clarified that his issue was with the closure of the first Grand National Assembly and the rejection of historical roots, not the Republic itself.

On 9 July 2025, Çamlı sparked significant controversy with a social media post on X, responding to a user’s comment about PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s actions. Çamlı wrote, “Yours [referring to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk] massacred 50,000 Alevi babies, elderly, and women in Dersim alone.” The statement referenced the Dersim rebellion, a historical event involving a violent suppression of an uprising in the predominantly Alevi-populated Tunceli region by the Turkish state under Atatürk’s presidency.

Gülenist connections Çamlı has been accused of having connections to the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government has officially designated as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). These claims stem primarily from social media posts attributed to Çamlı that surfaced in subsequent years. In 2019, a 2013 tweet by Çamlı was recirculated, in which he shared an article by Prof. Dr. Suat Yıldırım, titled “Fethullah Gülen or a Struggle for Virtue,” published in the Gülen-affiliated Zaman newspaper.

In the tweet, Çamlı wrote,

The post, dated December 11, 2013, shortly before the 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey, was interpreted by critics as expressing support for Fethullah Gülen and his movement. Yıldırım, the article’s author, has been linked to Adil Öksüz, who plays a key part in the Gülen movement, adding to the controversy.

In 2022, another resurfaced post from the 2011 Turkish football match-fixing scandal period drew attention. Çamlı tweeted,

defending Gülen against former Fenerbahçe president Aziz Yıldırım, who had criticized Gülen. Çamlı’s use of "hoca" (teacher) for Gülen was cited as evidence of sympathy toward the Gülen movement.

In November 2013, Çamlı authored an article in the newspaper Milat, addressing Gülen as “valuable hocaefendi” and urging him to quell tensions between the Gülen movement and the AKP amid growing political friction.

Çamlı noted meeting Gülen alongside Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Melih Gökçek, emphasizing the need to avoid “fitna” (discord) between the two groups.