For the ruling party, it is the tentacles of an octopus, and for prosecutors, it is a widespread network of corruption. In-depth investigations into graft in municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has now netted mayors of Adana, Antalya and Adıyaman. Along with sharing a first letter and being located in Türkiye’s south, the three cities now have the distinction of seeing their mayors apparently following the same pattern of corruption with other CHP-run municipalities.
Of the three, only Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek was formally arrested late Saturday, while legal proceedings are underway for Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar and Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere. Although their cases are separate, the names of all three men and municipalities are partially linked to investigations in Istanbul, whose mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, was arrested on similar charges in March.
Böcek was detained on charges of bribery, while his former daughter-in-law, Z.K., detained in the same case, was released with judicial control on Saturday. Böcek’s son, who is currently in Italy, is also wanted in the case.
Investigators say Böcek’s son, M.G., sought “payments” from businessman Y.Y. for the 2024 election campaign of his father and convinced him to sign a contract for a municipal contract in a bid to hide the source of payment amounting to TL 8.5 million ($210,000). On another occasion, M.G. bought a luxury residence for his wife, apparently instead of alimony, during their divorce proceedings, and Y.Y. paid the price on his behalf. Evidence against him includes activities in the bank accounts of M.G. and Y.Y. and a report by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board. Z.K. told investigators that she was not aware how M.G. paid for the residence; M.G. was unemployed at the time of the purchase.
For his part, Muhittin Böcek claimed he was not aware of payments by Y.Y., though he acknowledged he was familiar with the businessman due to his work. “I don’t know what terms he was on with my son,” he claimed. He also claimed he was not aware that his daughter-in-law had been given a residence during the divorce.
On Friday, the deputy mayor of Manavgat, a district of Antalya, was detained in a bribery operation. Police officers raiding the office of Mehmet Engin Tüter minutes after he allegedly accepted a bribe, discovered a large amount of euros hidden inside a box of baklava. Tüter had denied that he was aware of the cash, while the plaintiff who handed him the cash told authorities he paid the bribe in exchange for a permit for his business.
The cases of Tutdere and Karalar are linked to three separate corruption investigations based in Istanbul. Investigations focus on the ties of businessman Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, who allegedly paid bribes to district municipalities in Istanbul for lucrative contracts. He was detained last year along with CHP’s Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat. Testimony of Aktaş and other suspects, as well as other evidence, led to 15 detention warrants on Saturday, including Karalar and Zeydan. Ahmet Şahin, acting mayor of Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece district, who recently replaced Hasan Akgün, was also arrested on charges of corruption in a similar case.
Karalar is accused of accepting bribes from companies seeking access to the municipality’s tenders during his previous tenure as mayor of Adana’s Seyhan district. Tutdere is also accused of seeking bribes from several businesses. In both cases, the mayors are accused of using the municipality’s bureaucrats as intermediaries for the payment of bribes to avoid detection.
The CHP claims the detentions and arrests are politically motivated despite mounting evidence of bribery and amid confessions of businesspeople who detailed how they paid bribes to mayors and municipal bureaucrats in exchange for building permits and winning municipal tenders.
The party’s chair, Özgür Özel, reiterated their defense of the mayors and, in Böcek’s case, he said the arrest would “harm Antalya.” He claimed the mayors were “prisoners we will liberate one day.”
Özel incited CHP supporters to riots after Imamoğlu’s arrest and threatened any business he branded as pro-government with a boycott.
The government has repeatedly reiterated that the investigations are carried out by an independent judiciary and accuses the CHP of attempting to dodge corruption charges by portraying the arrests as political. The Fight Against Disinformation Center (DMM), a subsidiary of the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, said in a statement on Sunday that the opposition’s claim that only opposition parties were investigated for corruption was untrue. The DMM said the Interior Ministry also approved an investigation into municipalities run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), as well as its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The statement said that in 2024 alone, the government greenlit an investigation into 59 municipalities run by the AK Party, while this number was 58 for the CHP and 21 for the MHP.
“It is clear that investigations are launched regardless of the party affiliation of municipalities,” the statement said.
On Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed the CHP for disinformation regarding the investigations and trying to exploit them. “They tried to manipulate the public, but our nation is aware of their plot. The public knows riots would only serve separatists. I advise CHP administrations to be patient and await the verdict of the independent judiciary,” he was quoted by Turkish media.
“This is a moment of self-reflection for the CHP. Instead of contributing to the country’s politics, they seek to benefit from riots. They try to cover up the crimes through riots, through attempts to smear our judiciary organs,” he said.
“It is obvious that they do not trust their mayors, so they try to distort the issue,” Erdoğan said. Under the pretext of “politically motivated” arrests, the CHP long sought to rally the public for early elections.
“Is it possible for a party caught in a corruption syndrome to receive public approval? You can feel the stench (of corruption) everywhere,” Erdoğan said.
