The İstanbul 1st Heavy Penal Court ordered the release of the suspended Adana mayor Zeydan Karalar and eight other defendants during the first hearing of a corruption case yesterday. Karalar had been in pretrial detention since July.
The court ruled for the continued detention of four other mayors.
Karalar was among the mayors from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) suspended and arrested following a series of sweeping corruption investigations last year.
Those remaining in custody are Rıza Akpolat and Utku Caner Çaykara, the suspended mayors of the İstanbul districts of Beşiktaş and Avcılar, as well as Oya Tekin and Kadir Aydar of the Adana districts of Seyhan and Ceyhan.
The case, publicly known as the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş criminal organization case," in reference to a businessperson who turned into a confessor, involves 200 defendants, including seven CHP mayors.
Fifteen CHP mayors suspended from office in corruption probes
As part of the case, Karalar faces several charges related to municipal tenders, including forming or joining a criminal organization, bribery, bid-rigging, and misconduct in office.
In yesterday's decision, the court cited the status of the evidence and determined that the conditions requiring continued detention had weakened.
Court accepts indictment in corruption case against İmamoğlu
The wave of arrests began in Mar 2025 with the detention of the now-suspended İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whom the CHP had declared its presidential candidate. Since then, numerous CHP provincial and district mayors in major cities such as İstanbul, Antalya, and Adana have been arrested on corruption charges.
The CHP describes the operations as a government effort to undermine its success in the 2024 local elections whereas the government maintains that the investigations are strictly judicial processes. (VK)
