Father-in-law of accused drug kingpin Hakan Ayik defends him saying he’s a ‘good guy’

The father-in-law of accused drug lord Hakan Ayik, who is wanted by the FBI and AFP, insists he is not a criminal and his wife is not in danger.

Exclusive: The father-in-law of accused drug lord Hakan Ayik has defended the fugitive Australian, insisting he was a “really good guy’’ and not a criminal.

Rob Stoppelman, whose daughter Fleur Messelink is married to Ayik, said he was aware of police calls for Ayik to hand himself in, but said he did not believe what people were saying about his son-in-law.

“He’s not a criminal. No, never,’’ Mr Stoppelman said from his home outside the Dutch city of Arnhem, 100km southeast of Amsterdam.

“I’m really sure that it’s not true. My daughter told me. Nothing. It’s not true.’’

One of the world’s most wanted men, former Sydney bikie associate Ayik fled Australia in 2010 as police investigating a $210 million heroin importation closed in.

He is currently in hiding somewhere in Turkey, following threats to his life made by organised crime groups after it was revealed he had inadvertently allowed police to eavesdrop on criminal gangs’ communications by encouraging drug dealers and bikies to use an encrypted app known as AN0M.

Rob Stoppelman, the father-in-law of accused drug lord Hakan Ayik and the father of Ayik’s wife Fleur Messelink. Picture: Facebook

He didn’t realise the app was a secret law enforcement Trojan horse trap, which allowed police to copy 25 million messages sent on the app and has so far led to more than 1500 arrests across the globe including almost 300 in Australia.

Mr Stoppelman said he was aware of police statements that Ayik was a marked man who should hand himself in to protect his family.

Hakan Ayik, accused Australian drug lord with links to outlaw motorcycle gangs. Picture: Supplied

Fleur Messelink is the wife of Hakan Ayik. Picture: Facebook

He said he was not afraid for his daughter, who he had spoken to by phone after News Corp Australia revealed Ayik’s key role in the AN0M take-down.

“She’s not in big danger. You know it also that the media they make a big story, sensationalise it really,” Mr Stoppelman said.

Ayik, 42, who has changed his name from Joseph Hakan Ayik to Hakan Reis, is believed to have gone into hiding alone, leaving Ms Messelink and their two young sons behind in Istanbul.

“She has two children and she always says it’s not nice, the newspaper make a lot of big stories and I know it’s not true,’’ Mr Stoppelman said.

“Most, 80 per cent is not true.’’

Fleur Messelink, who still loves her husband Hakan Ayik. Picture: Facebook

He denied Ms Messelink spent her life travelling the world in five-star luxury, despite her now-deleted Instagram account showing holidays in the Maldives and Dubai, European cars and designer handbags.

“They say that she travel a lot in the world and it’s not true,’’ he said.

He also denied his son-in-law was a criminal, saying his trouble with the law was “10 years ago.’’

“It’s 10, 15 years ago, when he was young he make a lot of mistakes I think,’’ he said.

“But she loves him and that’s the problem. He’s a good man, really a good man.’’

Fleur Messelink, the wife of Hakan Ayik on holidays with a friend in the Maldives. Picture: Facebook

News Corp Australia tracked Mr Stoppelman down by linking him to an Airbnb chalet being advertised by his wife under the name Fleur Reis, in a cabin park in a forest a short distance from Arnhem.

He confirmed he had attended the couple’s wedding in Istanbul in 2014, and said that Ayik had never visited Holland.

Despite this, Ayik, using his first name Hakan and his photograph, posted a positive review on the property in March 2018.

“It was a really nice place and I would recommend anyone to stay here that loves nature. Thank you for being a great host. I’m looking forward to staying here again in the future,’’ he wrote.

The property remains available for rent.

“Hello, My name is Fleur Reis,’’ Ms Messelink posted on the website.

“I am from the Netherlands, but have been living since a couple of years in Turkey where I opened a hair transplant clinic.

“I bought a holiday chalet a couple of years ago and now started to rent it out on Airbnb, which is also super fun to do. It is a really nice chalet and it is great when guests had a great time there. When guests arrive I will make sure the place is all clean and ready. I am also always available on message to help you with questions or anything you need.’’

The father-in-law of accused drug lord Hakan Ayik and the father of Ayik’s wife Fleur Messelink. Picture: Facebook

Mr Stoppelman said he did not know where his daughter currently was, but he believed she was in Istanbul.

“I know where she is. I speak to her. It’s my child. My blood.

“He’s a good guy, really good guy. Really nice.’’

Photographs published in the media show Ayik cavorting with groups of young Asian women. Mr Stoppelman denied they were prostitutes, but said maybe Ayik had made some mistakes “when he was young.’’

Fleur Messelink is the wife of Hakan Ayik. Picture: Facebook

Asked if he was concerned for his own safety, Mr Stoppelman said: “It’s what it is. What can I do? What can I do? I must hide me for a year or two years?’’

Mr Stoppelman, who is retired, lives a modest life in the cabin park outside Arnhem, the city where Ms Messelink appeared to have grown up and attended school.

A pretty town near the German border, it is famous as the location for the WWII blockbuster movie A Bridge Too Far, starring big-screen luminaries such as Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Edward Fox and Elliott Gould.

It is also the city in which actress Audrey Hepburn lived during the Nazi occupation, where she occasionally assisted the Dutch resistance by performing silent dance recitals to raise money.

The pool at the chalet. Picture: Supplied

The exterior photo for Hakan Ayik wife's rental. Picture: AirBnB

After attending school in Arnhem, Ms Messelink is thought to have moved to Barcelona, then to Turkey, where she Ayik have lived for several years in Bestikas, an up-market suburb of Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus waterway. Also known by the name Fabienne Fleur, she is still listed as the proprietor of The Private Clinic in Istanbul, a medical facility offering hair transplants to foreign tourists.

Ayik, who has connections to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang, was a dual Turkish-Australian national who renounced his Australian citizenship in 2019. Turkey is extremely reluctant to extradite its own citizens, putting Ayik further out of reach of Australian law enforcement.

But police have been keeping tabs on him and a group of fellow Turkish Australians who live in and around Bestikas, and who frequent the King’s Cross Hotel in Istanbul, which is believed to be run by Ayik.

After it was revealed Ayik had been used by the Australian Federal Police as an “influencer’’ to spread the police app AN0M, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw warned on June 8 that Ayik and his family were in danger.

“I think given the threat that he faces, he’s best off handing himself into us as soon as he can,’’ Mr Kershaw said.

“He was one of the co-ordinators of this particular device. So he’s essentially set up his own colleagues.

“And my view would be the sooner he hands himself in and to look after his family, he’s a wanted individual, the better for him and his family.’’

Asked if Ayik’s actions had made him a “marked’’ man, Mr Kershaw replied: “probably, yes.’’

Do you know more? Email us at [e-mail]

Originally published as Father-in-law of accused drug kingpin Hakan Ayik defends him saying he’s a ‘good guy’