Authorities on Thursday detained two members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on charges of corruption and fraud.
Ümit Erkol, the CHP chair for the capital Ankara branch, was detained in an investigation into corruption in the western city of Izmir, a CHP stronghold. Ömer Eşki, mayor of Izmir’s Bornova district, was also detained on charges of fraud and forgery. Eşki was facing an investigation for putting a suspect on the municipality’s payroll, awarding the suspect a no-show job.
The probe that netted Erkol centered on a building cooperative in Izmir that was reportedly entangled in corruption. Izmir’s former mayor, Tunç Soyer, and dozens of others, including municipal bureaucrats and the CHP’s former chair for Izmir, were arrested last year in the same probe. Soyer was acquitted of one of the charges in the case, but remained in jail as he faces other charges of corruption.
More than 20 mayors governing CHP municipalities have been detained or arrested in the past two years on charges of corruption, along with dozens of municipal bureaucrats.
The CHP claims the arrests and detentions are politically motivated, while the government denies any intervention in the judicial processes. So far, the most high-profile name arrested in corruption investigations was Ekrem Imamoğlu, mayor of Istanbul. Shortly after his arrest in March 2025, the CHP declared him as its future presidential candidate, confirming rumors that Imamoğlu would run against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The party’s chair, Özgür Özel, however, appears to be taking on a bet he may lose on Imamoğlu. Earlier this week, Özel told a parliamentary group meeting of the CHP that the arrested mayor "will not deserve presidential candidacy if anyone can prove he enriched himself after taking office.” Imamoğlu is already ineligible to run for president as his university diploma was revoked on charges of forgery.
Nevertheless, the CHP has confidence that he will be acquitted of the charges of corruption. A report published by the Sabah newspaper on Thursday shows Özel’s challenge to authorities to prove Imamoğlu’s corruption may backfire. The report, based on the findings in the case against the former mayor, indicates Imamoğlu likely accumulated inexplicable wealth after taking office in 2019.
A 2025 report by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) included in the case shows that three villas worth about TL 2.23 billion ($50 million) were sold for TL 15 million to a company owned by Imamoğlu, by businessperson Ali Nuhoğlu, a suspect in the Imamoğlu corruption case. The report also includes the acquisition of 117 properties by Imamoğlu’s privately run construction company during his tenure as Istanbul mayor. The investigation could not find the source of cash paid for the acquisition between December 2020 and December 2023, raising suspicions that the cash was collected through bribes Imamoğlu and his alleged criminal network acquired, according to the investigators.