Court arrests five mayors in Istanbul Municipality graft case
ISTANBUL
A court has ordered 22 suspects, including five district mayors, to be jailed pending trial in the latest phase of a sweeping corruption investigation targeting Istanbul Municipality.
The municipality, led by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been under scrutiny since March over a series of graft allegations, including bid rigging and bribery.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a prominent CHP figure, has been under arrest since March as part of the same investigation, which has widened to include multiple raids and dozens of high-ranking officials.
The fifth wave of the investigation took place on May 31.
Early on June 4, the court ruled to detain Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgül, Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe and Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara.
The court also ordered the arrest of Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar and Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, both from the southern province of Adana.
All five mayors detained in this latest wave are members of the CHP.
Other detainees included deputy mayors, municipal advisors and the husband of the Seyhan mayor.
The court also ruled that 14 individuals be released under judicial control, which includes a travel ban and mandatory weekly check-ins at a local police station.
Akgül, who has served seven terms as mayor of Büyükçekmece, slammed the operation through a statement posted by his lawyers on social media. He rejected the accusations as slander and claimed that the probe was part of a smear campaign to undermine the legitimacy of his office.
CHP leader Özgür Özel also denounced the arrests and vowed to continue resisting what he described as politically motivated operations.
He called on the public to attend a rally in Gaziosmanpaşa — one of the districts whose mayors were among those arrested — on June 4.
With the latest arrests, the number of mayors jailed in connection with the Istanbul Municipality investigation has risen to eight, including İmamoğlu.
Rıza Akpolat, the mayor of Beşiktaş — a CHP stronghold — has been in jail since January, while Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Köseler has been arrested since March, both over separate corruption probes. Additionally, former Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer has been imprisoned since late 2024 over alleged membership in the PKK terrorist organization. CHP’s Özer was suspended from the office following the arrest decision.
