Turkish prosecutors have detained four suspects as part of an embezzlement investigation linked to alleged irregularities in the accounts of a municipal company owned by the Etimesgut Municipality in Ankara, authorities said Monday.
In a statement, the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the investigation was launched after Türkiye’s Court of Accounts identified irregularities during its routine 2025 audits of the Republican People’s Party (CHP)-run Etimesgut Municipality.
The findings were related to the municipality’s soup kitchen, food procurement and distribution operations, as well as the accounts of Etimkent A.S., a company wholly owned by the municipality.
Prosecutors said detention orders were issued for four people, including Etimkent A.S. general manager, Etimesgut Municipality Social Assistance Affairs director, an employee who served as an accounting officer in the same department, and another person who was responsible for the company’s cash desk.
Simultaneous searches and seizure operations were carried out at the suspects’ homes and workplaces, and all four were taken into custody, the prosecutor’s office said.
Etimesgut Municipality said in a separate written statement that the case was not the result of a politically motivated operation against the municipality, but rather stemmed from an earlier internal inspection and criminal complaint filed by municipal authorities.
The municipality said one of the employees named in the investigation had already been suspended as part of its own administrative inquiry. It added that employee S.K. had been reported to prosecutors on Sept. 11, 2025, by both the municipality and its company in the capacity of complainants.
Municipal officials said they were closely monitoring the judicial process and would continue to share details with the public in a transparent manner.
Legal troubles are mounting for Türkiye’s main opposition CHP as a fresh wave of bribery and corruption investigations has led to the detention of another mayor and dozens of municipal officials.
Last week, operations targeting CHP municipalities in Uşak and Marmaris also resulted in the detention of 24 people, including Özkan Yalım and a deputy mayor in Marmaris, according to authorities. The detentions mark the latest development in a series of probes focusing on opposition-led local governments.
At least a dozen CHP mayors have been detained or arrested since last year, with several more facing ongoing corruption and bribery investigations or trials. High-profile cases include Istanbul’s suspended mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, and Antalya’s ousted mayor, Muhittin Böcek, whose cases have drawn national attention following their arrests late last year and trials that began earlier this month.
