In the second round of operations on corruption allegations at the municipality of Istanbul’s Şile district, police on Tuesday detained 22 suspects.
Özgür Kabadayı, Şile’s mayor for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was arrested along with four others last July on charges of running a criminal gang, bribery and tender rigging.
Tuesday’s operations netted suspects accused of similar corruption charges based on unusual financial transactions between them, documented by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
Turkish media outlets have earlier reported that several eyewitnesses told investigators that the mayor took bribes from businesspeople for building permits. Other suspects arrested along with Kabadayı are municipal bureaucrats.
Mayors and top officials of municipalities run by the CHP face a spate of corruption allegations as prosecutors launched wide-ranging probes last year. Rıza Akpolat, mayor of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, was the first CHP mayor in the city to be arrested on charges of corruption. On March 23, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu was arrested on similar charges. Operations later included mayors in other cities, including Antalya in southern Türkiye. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described the operations as an action against the “tentacles of an octopus.”
