Buca mayor detained in latest crackdown on CHP-run municipalities

İZMİR

Authorities on June 1 issued detention warrants for 62 individuals, including Görkem Duman, the mayor of İzmir’s Buca district, as part of an anti-corruption investigation in the latest crackdown on opposition-run municipalities.

In a simultaneous early-morning operation, Duman and former Buca Mayor Erhan Kılıç were among those detained.

Of the 62 suspects, 53 were taken into custody, while three were already in prison and six others were reported to be on the run.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspects are accused of forming a criminal organization, bribery and irregularities in zoning practices in the district of the western province.

The statement also alleged that some individuals who reported on the municipality or shared content on social media were assaulted.

In a similar operation carried out at Buca Municipality in February, 26 people were detained, seven of whom were later jailed pending trial.

In May, Güzelbahçe Mayor Mustafa Günay was also arrested and suspended from duty in İzmir.

Buca Mayor Duman entered political life in 2018 through the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and quickly rose to become deputy chair of the party’s İzmir provincial branch.

He was elected mayor of Buca in the March 31, 2024 local elections, securing around 42 percent of the vote.

Since the 2024 local elections, mayors in more than 30 provinces and districts, including Istanbul, Adana, Bursa and Antalya, have been arrested or removed from office.

A series of investigations over the past year have targeted municipalities governed by the CHP, with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu imprisoned since March 2025.

The CHP says the arrest of İmamoğlu and legal actions against other opposition mayors are politically motivated.