3 mayors arrested in opposition crackdown in southern Turkey
Opposition presidential candidate and Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu was previously arrested in March over allegations of corruption
The mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested on Saturday, state-run media reported, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March.
Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested with two other suspects in a separate bribery investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Anadolu reported.
Karalar was arrested near Istanbul and Tutdere was arrested in the capital, Ankara, where he has a home. Tutdere posted on X that he was being taken to Istanbul. Police also carried out searches at the municipal offices in Adana and Adiyaman.
Ten people, including Karalar and Tutdere, were arrested as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into allegations involving organised crime, bribery and bid-rigging. In a statement, it said the evidence against Karalar and Tutdere had been supplied by a businessman who cooperated with prosecutors following his detention for running a criminal organisation and paying bribes.
The mayors had “requested unfair financial benefits from company executives doing business with the municipality,” prosecutors added.