The former mayor of Kemer, a coastal district of Antalya province, Mustafa Gül from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained on charges of ‘’influence peddling’’ and ‘’fraud," officials said on Wednesday.
According to a complaint filed by local businessperson M.N.A., Gül allegedly contacted him, claiming to know the expert assigned to prepare a report in a lawsuit concerning M.N.A.’s business. Gül is accused of demanding $9,500 to secure a favorable expert report.
Following the complaint, the Kemer Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation. Under its coordination, police provided marked banknotes to the complainant, who later handed them to the suspect as part of a sting operation.
Security forces later raided Gül’s residence, where they allegedly found the serial-numbered money. The former mayor was taken into custody.
After serving from 1994 to 1999 in the CHP, Gül returned to office a decade later, winning the 2009 local elections as a candidate of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) before rejoining the CHP in 2016.
In 2012, he was briefly detained on allegations of bid-rigging but was later released.
Gül was re-elected in 2014, serving his third term as mayor under the MHP banner. In 2016, he resigned from the party following a disciplinary expulsion request and rejoined the CHP to continue his political career.
Previously, Muhittin Böcek, the former mayor of Antalya province, was also arrested in July on allegations of accepting a TL 195 million ($4.7 million) bribe with his son, reportedly laundered through jewelry stores and currency exchanges. The Interior Ministry later suspended him from duty.
Several municipal executives and businesspeople have also been arrested or placed under judicial control as the probe expanded.
On the other hand, Turkish authorities also detained 24 additional suspects on Tuesday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation into alleged "bribery, embezzlement and bid rigging" during the previous administration of the Manavgat Municipality in Antalya. Former Mayor Şükrü Sözen and his brother were arrested on Sept. 11. During searches of their homes, investigators reportedly seized large amounts of cash and jewelry.
The Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, Türkiye’s fifth-largest city administration, has faced heightened scrutiny since the arrests.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is under mounting scrutiny as a wave of corruption, bribery, and terrorism-related investigations sweeps across its municipalities.