Minister Soylu says 'terrorism' investigation into İstanbul Municipality 'not political'

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Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has dismissed criticism over a new investigation into the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), saying that the investigation is not politically motivated.

"This is not a political situation, it has a security aspect," he told reporters yesterday (December 27) in the capital city of Ankara. "We have no business with anyone's municipality. It's our business to combat terrorism and we have to keep Turkey on alert."

The Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday that it had launched a "special investigation" into the municipality concerning the municipal personnel with "terrorist ties."

There was information and allegations that more than 500 personnel had connections with several outlawed groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said the ministry.

Responding to İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's criticism that all municipal employees were implicated, Soylu said that his ministry had also dismissed 50,000 personnel for the same reasons after the July 2016 coup attempt. "Is the Ministry of Interior implicated now?" he asked.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also reiterated the claims, saying that the İstanbul Municipality had recruited 45,000 people, some of which had "terrorist ties."

İmamoğlu: Dividing people does no good

Holding a press conference yesterday, İmamoğlu said they have no problems with being investigated, but the way it was announced was problematic.

Minister Soylu first voiced the allegations about the municipality on December 12 and they requested information from the ministry about the issue but didn't get a response, said the mayor.

"Then the ministry announced with a tweet that they started an investigation about us. To be honest,  this is the first time I've witnessed the state starting an investigation on Twitter," he remarked.

"As the mayor of a city of 16 million people and a municipality that has 86,000 employees, I denounce this statement," he added. "Our friends have often been declared terrorists. I'd like to stress that the understanding that divides the people doesn't do any good to our country." (HA/VK)