An İstanbul court late yesterday arrested Beyoğlu District Mayor İnan Güney and 16 others as part of an ongoing corruption investigation linked to the opposition-controlled İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
A total of 44 suspects, including Güney, were taken into custody on Aug 15, marking the ninth wave of a months-long probe that began in March.
Güney faces charges of “membership in a criminal organization” and “fraud against public institutions,” according to a statemet from the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Other detainees include Güney’s chief of staff Seyhan Özcan, his brother-in-law İsmail Akkaya, and his driver Deniz Göleli.
After undergoing medical checks yesterday morning, all 44 suspects were brought to the Çağlayan Courthouse. Of those, prosecutors referred 20 for arrest and sought judicial control measures for 24 others.
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Following court proceedings, 17 individuals were formally arrested, while 27 were released under judicial supervision, requiring the suspects to regularly check in at a police station and barring them from international travel.
Prosecutors claimed the suspects were involved in corruption schemes tied to figures arrested in previous operations, including Murat Ongun, a former spokesperson for İBB and aide to Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition's former mayor and presidential candidate who has been in pre-trial detention since Mar 23. Prosecutors also linked the case to fugitive suspect Emrah Bağdatlı.
Reacting to the arrest of Güney, Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul provincial chair Özgür Çelik spoke outside the courthouse, saying, “We witnessed something today that defies explanation in 21st-century Turkey. They arrested people using a copy-paste method.”
Güney is expected to be suspended from office due to the ongoing investigation. In that case, the district municipal council will elect a new mayor. Since the CHP holds a majority in the district council, it is likely that another CHP member will be elected as an acting mayor.
The CHP views the corruption investigations as an attempt by the government to reverse its electoral success in the 2024 local polls and obstruct İmamoğlu, who is seen as a strong rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The government, on the other hand, maintains that the process is purely judicial and there is no political intervention.
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(AEK/VK)
