Authorities have detained 28 people, including İzmit Mayor Fatma Kaplan Hürriyet, her husband Murat Hürriyet and the local district chair from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, as part of a corruption investigation targeting the main opposition-run municipalities.
According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the probe focuses on allegedly irregular municipal tenders and is based on suspect testimonies, statements given under the effective remorse provisions and accounts from confidential witnesses.
Prosecutors issued detention warrants for 31 suspects on charges including forming a criminal organization, bribery and bid-rigging.
The prosecutor’s office further alleged that companies awarded municipal contracts, as well as other bidders, had familial ties to municipal officials and claimed that illicit “commission” payments were collected from contractors.
Speaking before being taken into custody, Hürriyet dismissed the allegations, saying, “My conscience is clear. I have nothing to hide.”
A series of investigations over the past year have targeted CHP-run municipalities, with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu imprisoned since March 2025.
The CHP maintains that the arrest of İmamoğlu and the legal actions against its other mayors are politically motivated. The party has previously nominated İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate for the next elections.
İmamoğlu faces separate investigations over several other charges, including espionage and forgery of documents over his university diploma.
