Thirteen people were detained early today as part of a corruption-related investigation into the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality over on concert expenditures between 2021 and 2024.
According to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the probe was initiated following findings that public funds were misused in organizing concerts during the municipality’s cultural events program, citing reports from the Interior Ministry’s inspectors, financial police, and the Court of Accounts. It stated that around 154 million liras (~3.7 million US dollars) of public funds were lost across 32 concert events.
The charges under investigation include abuse of office and bid rigging.
Seven of those detained are former officials from the municipality’s cultural events directorate, two are current officials, and four are owners of private event companies.
Ankara mayor responds to allegations
Responding to today's events, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said that internal inspections had found no wrongdoing regarding the concerts.
Yavaş said that when the first allegations surfaced last year, the municipality dismissed the officials involved and launched an internal review. “We did not detect any irregularities,” he told the pro-opposition Halk TV during a live broadcast.
He added, “Almost all of them are employees from the previous administration. Only one person worked during my term, and I had already dismissed him.”
Yavaş also pointed to recent corruption investigations against CHP-run municipalities. Referring to a social media post by former Ankara mayor Melih Gökçek, shared late yesterday, Yavaş said, “If we look at the post by the biggest thief in Ankara, they did this operation after saying all the time that ‘why isn’t there an operation against Ankara'."
Later, Gökçek released a statement denying any link between his post and the operation. A member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Gökçek governed the capital for 23 years, from 1994 to 2017. He resigned two years before the end of his term at the request of his party.
Jailed opposition mayor claims refusal to join AKP led to arrest
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which also controls the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, has faced a wave of corruption investigations since March. Several CHP mayors, including those of major cities such as İstanbul, Adana, and Antalya, have been suspended from office and placed in pre-trial detention.
Despite these suspensions, the party has maintained control over these municipalities due to its majority presence in the municipal councils, which select acting mayors.
In total, more than 15 CHP mayors from both city and district municipalities have been removed from office.
The CHP has criticized the investigations, describing them as politically motivated. The party claims they are part of a judicial campaign by the AKP aimed at undermining its success in the 2024 local elections, where it outperformed the AKP in major cities and nationwide.
The AKP has denied the accusations, maintaining that the judiciary corruption wherever it is found.
Separately, the CHP is facing a court case over its 2023 congress, where the party leader changed after 14 years, on allegations of irregularities including vote buying. The case could potentially nullify the congress.
Fifteen CHP mayors suspended from office in corruption probes
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