Two former mayors from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) were among 15 suspects remanded into custody on Tuesday on charges of corruption.
Authorities in Kırıkkale, a province neighboring the capital Ankara, have earlier detained 35 suspects in connection with corruption allegations at province’s Yahşihan district. Former Mayors Ahmet Sungur and Osman Türkyılmaz were among them.
Sungur and Türkyılmaz were detained along with their deputies, municipal assembly members and businesspeople on Sept. 24. They are accused of running a criminal organization, bribery, rigging public tenders and fraud.
A crackdown on municipalities where mayors are suspected of corruption began a few years ago in Istanbul and soon spread across the country. Most of those arrested or detained for corruption are from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Probably most notable among them is Ekrem Imamoğlu, mayor of Türkiye’s most populated city, Istanbul. Imamoğlu was arrested last year.
