Mayor in İzmir district reinstated after house arrest lifted

İZMİR

Balçova Mayor Onur Yiğit in the western province of İzmir was reinstated by the Interior Ministry after a court lifted his house arrest, the ministry announced on Aug. 24.

Yiğit was detained on June 25 and placed under house arrest as part of an investigation led by the Seferihisar Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Seferihisar Mayor İsmail Yetişkin, who was detained in the same investigation, was arrested pending trial.

The house arrest order against Yiğit was lifted on July 23.

The June 25 operation was carried out by the Financial Crimes Unit of the İzmir Provincial Police Department as part of the prosecutor’s bribery investigation.

Yiğit became the second mayor from opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to be reinstated after Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere.

Since the March 31, 2024 local elections, mayors in more than 30 provinces and districts, including Istanbul, Adana, Bursa and Antalya, have been arrested or removed from office. Trustees have been appointed to replace some of them.