Police launched a new wave of operations on Tuesday against a criminal network, in which a businessperson is accused of collaborating with mayors and bureaucrats in Istanbul’s municipalities to facilitate corruption.
Twenty-one suspects were detained in operations in Istanbul and the provinces of Antalya, Çanakkale, Trabzon, Bursa and Giresun.
Among them was Irfan Demet, a former military officer who was appointed as head of Istanbul municipality’s transportation authority, IETT, in 2023. Along with Demet, senior officials of IETT, which oversees mass transportation in Türkiye’s most populated city, were detained. Four other suspects remain at large.
The suspects are accused of corruption in tenders launched by IETT and ISFALT, an asphalt production subsidiary of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). IETT has been under scrutiny since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu first took office in 2019, due to frequent crashes and malfunctions in public transportation. Critics attribute those incidents to poor maintenance of buses and other mass transit vehicles, as well as mismanagement.
The operations are part of an investigation dating back to 2024 that led to the arrest of Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, a prominent businessperson who was awarded a myriad number of public tenders by municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Aktaş later collaborated with authorities as part of a plea deal and testified against his accomplices in return for commuting his sentencing to house arrest. Along with Aktaş, Rıza Akpolat, mayor of Istanbul’s upscale Beşiktaş district, was arrested earlier this year. A few months later, a separate operation and investigation saw the arrest of Imamoğlu on charges of corruption. The investigation into what prosecutors call a criminal network led by Imamoğlu often overlaps with an investigation into accusations against Aktaş and others.
The testimony of Aktaş eventually led to the detention of five more mayors, including those of Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpaşa, Büyükçekmece and Avcılar districts, all of which are run by the CHP. Aktaş has confessed to bribing mayors in return for lucrative tenders, and in one instance, he was forced to “donate” a vehicle for use in the mayors' 2024 election campaign.
The CHP claims the arrests are politically motivated, although more than 30 suspects collaborating with authorities in exchange for lenient sentences confessed to widespread corruption in most subsidiaries of the IBB, from bribes paid for building permits to illegal tender privileges for businesspeople in exchange for bribes.
The government defends its investigations, pointing out that the judiciary is independent. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has branded investigations and evidence as efforts to uncover “tentacles of an octopus of corruption in the municipalities.”
Imamoğlu’s case remains the most high-profile among corruption probes. He was among 48 people arrested in March in the first wave of operations against the IBB that led to the detention of 100 suspects. More operations followed, and as of this month, more than 300 suspects were named in the investigation. One hundred and five were among those arrested, while others were released with judicial controls. Suspects who invoke remorse laws, which offer lesser sentences in exchange for information about others involved in criminal activities, have detailed the extent of corruption at the municipality and its subsidiaries.
Burak Korzay, the general manager of ISFALT, was released from prison on Monday morning after pleading "adequate remorse."
Korzay, who was arrested on June 4, provided testimony on July 10 and July 21 that prosecutors deemed sufficient for his release. His statements reportedly helped advance the case, according to judicial sources.
According to his testimony, which was made public, Korzay alleged a covert “system” of coercion and illicit payments at the heart of the widening corruption probe.
Korzay claimed companies were forced to make off-the-books payments to receive funds already owed to them by the IBB. He directly implicated Ertan Yıldız, chair of IBB’s Subsidiaries and Affiliates Commission, stating that Yıldız demanded TL 30 million ($740,000) from contractor Aktaş, warning, “They won’t pay him unless you send it.”
When Korzay objected, Yıldız allegedly replied, “Is this the first time you’ve heard of the system?” and said that the money was needed for the upcoming election campaign budget of the CHP.
Korzay said he immediately told Aktaş to pursue legal means instead of making the payment, but Aktaş insisted on paying to collect his receivables quickly. The money, according to Korzay, was allegedly dropped off in a bag at a hotel in Kilyos.
He also claimed Aktaş later paid $100,000 to another suspect, Baki Aydöner, who Korzay said had influence over vehicle and waste tenders in various municipalities. Tender procedures, he alleged, were manipulated by senior IBB officials, including Deputy Secretary General Arif Gürkan Alpay and Fatih Keleş.
Korzay stated that the IBB approved projects without actual financial resources, launching tenders to appear active while using them to generate unofficial revenue. Detailed knowledge of tenders was allegedly shared informally, allowing preferred companies to secure lucrative contracts. “The real profit came from ISFALT tenders,” he said.
