Three mayors from main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have been detained as part of ongoing corruption investigations, marking the latest in a series of legal actions targeting local leaders following the 2024 municipal elections.
Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek was taken into custody in a bribery investigation led by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The probe involves three suspects, including Böcek, who were detained by anti-smuggling and organized crime police units and brought to the provincial police headquarters for questioning, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
In a separate investigation centered in İstanbul, Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar and Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere were also detained. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is leading the investigation into claims that the network, reportedly headed by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, coordinated public tenders by bribing municipal leaders and senior officials.
Karalar posted a video on social media shortly before being detained, saying, "Everyone knows that I have nothing to do with bribery and corruption."
Witness statements from individuals employed by Aktaş’s companies, along with testimony from detained suspects and submitted documents, are currently under review. Aktaş was previously released after providing a statement under the “effective remorse” provision.
In İstanbul’s Büyükçekmece district, Deputy Mayor Ahmet Şahin, who was acting on behalf of Mayor Hasan Akgün, was detained alongside three others. Akgün is accused of demanding property in exchange for construction permits and occupancy certificates, allegedly coercing business owners and transferring the acquired assets to his relatives.
Will CHP lose control of municipalities?
In these three cities, the detention of the mayors is not expected to lead to a loss of municipal control by the CHP. Although the Municipal Law grants the interior minister the authority to suspend mayors under investigation for certain offenses and appoint trustees in their place, this is typically applied only in cases involving terrorism-related charges.
In corruption investigations, if a mayor is suspended, a deputy mayor is selected by the city council. Since the CHP holds a majority in the councils of all three cities, it is expected to retain control of the municipalities. A similar situation occurred in March when İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested; the city council, where CHP holds a majority, elected a replacement and the municipality remained under CHP administration.
Crackdown on CHP following election victory
These developments follow a wave of arrests of CHP mayors which began in March with the detention of İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and nearly a hundred other suspects, mostly municipal officials and employees. İmamoğlu has been seen as a strong challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and was declared the CHP's presidential candidate following his arrest.
As of now, eight CHP mayors are in pretrial detention, including İmamoğlu and the mayors of seven İstanbul districts: Esenyurt’s Ahmet Özer, Şişli’s Resul Emrah Şahan, Beşiktaş’s Rıza Akpolat, Beykoz’s Alaattin Köseler, Gaziosmanpaşa’s Hakan Bahçetepe, Avcılar’s Utku Caner Çaykara, and Beylikdüzü’s Mehmet Murat Çalık.
Additionally, former İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer was also detained and subsequently formally arrested this week in a corruption investigation targeting the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.
With the recent detentions, the mayors of Antalya, Antalya's Manavgat district, Adıyaman, and Adana remain in custody pending further investigation.
The CHP achieved a significant victory in the 2024 local elections, surpassing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in both the popular vote and total number of municipalities won. The party secured 35 out of 81 provincial municipalities, including 14 metropolitan cities, gaining control over a majority of the country’s population and economic base in local administration.
Explained: The broader context behind Turkey’s crackdown on İstanbul mayor
Judicial pressure on party leadership
The CHP also faces the possibility of a legal process that could result in the complete removal of its current leadership. This case stems from an investigation into the party’s Nov 2023 congress, where Özgül Özel assumed its leadership, ending the 14-year tenure of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. His victory followed a "change" campaign spearheaded by İstanbul's İmamoğlu, after Kılıçdaroğlu’s loss to Erdoğan in the 2023 presidential election.
On Feb 10, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into allegations that delegates were offered money, mobile phones, and housing in exchange for votes in favor of Özel and a case was eventually filed.
The latest hearing of the congress annulment case took place on Jun 30 and the case was adjourned to Sep 8, when the court is expected to hand down its judgment. Prior to the hearing, a meeting took place between CHP leader Özel and the former party leader.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost the leadership at the congress, has not ruled out the possibility of regaining the position through a court ruling.
Current CHP leadership views the lawsuit as a government-backed effort to reinstall Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost every election he contested in 14 years, as party chair, thereby disrupting the momentum gained by the CHP in the 2024 local elections.
Some journalists close to Kılıçdaroğlu, however, argue that the procedural irregularities alleged in the congress were not baseless. They suggest that if the court annuls the congress, Kılıçdaroğlu could temporarily return to prevent the party from falling under the control of a trustee appointed by the government.
CHP calls emergency congress to 'prevent government takeover'
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