Mayors of Seferihisar and Balçova districts of Türkiye’s third largest city Izmir were detained on Thursday in another operation against rampant corruption at municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Seferihisar’s Ismail Yetişkin and Balçova’s Onur Yiğit were among 24 suspects detained on charges of corruption and bribery. This was the third wave of operations against alleged corruption at the Seferihisar municipality that led more detentions earlier. Other suspects include municipal staff and businesspeople.
Suspects alleged of taking and/or giving bribes for construction and zoning permits violating regulations and the evidence against them include suspicious cash flow on bank accounts, especially before March 2024 municipal elections.
Dozens of mayors and municipal bureaucrats from the CHP were detained or arrested in the past two years in investigations focusing on corruption. Majority of allegations involve bribery in return of construction permits which are otherwise subject to strict regulations, and rigging the lucrative tenders of municipalities.
Izmir is a stronghold of the CHP and is among cities most affected by what critics call poor management, especially in terms of financial resources of municipalities. Since the 2024 elections, the district municipalities of the city saw major strikes by employees complaining unpaid wages. Meanwhile, the city’s mayor Cemil Tugay recently announced his resignation from the party after the CHP’s former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated to office by a court verdict in a case of alleged vote-buying in a 2023 intra-party election.
