Skip to main content

Turkey orders detention of Istanbul district mayor, others in corruption probe, state media says

1 min Mena Today

A Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 48 suspects, including the mayor of Istanbul's opposition-run Bayrampasa district, as part of a corruption investigation, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Saturday.

Bayrampasa Mayor Hasan Mutlu © X

Bayrampasa Mayor Hasan Mutlu © X

A Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 48 suspects, including the mayor of Istanbul's opposition-run Bayrampasa district, as part of a corruption investigation, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Saturday.

The police carried out early morning raids at 72 locations to seize documents and detain suspects on charges including embezzlement, bribery, and tender rigging, according to TRT Haber.

In a post on X, Bayrampasa Mayor Hasan Mutlu, from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said he had nothing to hide and called the investigation "a political operation based on unfounded slander".

The detentions come amidst a nearly year-long crackdown on the CHP and CHP-run municipalities, in which hundreds of party members have been arrested and jailed.

A court ruling due on Monday could remove the leader of the CHP in a case widely seen as a test of the country’s fragile balance between democratic institutions and centralised power, increasing the legal pressure on the party.

Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun

Tags

Related

Turkey

Why is Turkey's main opposition party facing a legal crackdown?

Turkey's main opposition party has seen hundreds of its members arrested in a nearly year-long legal onslaught that will reach a critical point on Monday when a court decides whether to annul the party's last congress and unseat its leader.

Turkey

Turkey’s march toward dictatorship

In Istanbul, prosecutors have ordered the arrest of ten executives of Can Holding and the seizure of its vast assets, including three television channels — Habertürk, Show TV, and Bloomberg HT — on charges of fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, Turkish media reported Thursday.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Mena banner 4

To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.

  • Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.