Two suspects testifying at an investigation into the Üsküdar municipality of Istanbul run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) detailed how they paid off municipal bureaucrats in exchange of permits.
The deputy mayor of the Istanbul district and 20 others were detained earlier this week in a corruption probe against the municipality. Deputy Mayor Filiz Deveci and eight others were remanded in custody, while 10 others were released with judiciary control and another one was released.
A report published by the Sabah newspaper on Sunday disclosed how municipal officials thrived on bribes. The report is based on testimonies of those who bribed the officials. A broader investigation focuses on statements of witnesses and the transactions between suspects, including construction companies that reportedly bribed officials to secure permits for new buildings.
Yılmaz Kozan, a contractor who was among the detained, agreed to collaborate with authorities. Kozan told investigators that he was reluctant to bribe but Alperen Uçar, a municipal official in charge of issuing building licenses, threatened them. "(Municipal officials) told me that they needed $10,000 for legal fees of the municipality and needs of the personal aide of Mayor Sinem Dedetaş. I paid it and they issued me a building permit,” he said. Kozan said he also wired TL 250,000 to the account of a sports subsidiary of the municipality as part of the bribe.
Ceyhan Han, who acted as a middleman between companies and the municipalities, confessed he personally handed over foreign currency worth TL 1 million to Uçar in the latter’s office. He said Uçar did not have the final say in bribes and his superior was Nazım Akkoyunlu, another suspect who served as head of a subsidiary of the Üsküdar municipality. "His approval is needed first. Then, they ask payments piece by piece and ultimately, they transfer the money to Akkoyunlu,” he claimed.
A statement by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office said Akkoyunlu, director of the municipality’s subsidiary Kent A.Ş., was assigned as "deputy mayor” at the municipality, though he was not the official deputy. The statement said the subsidiary acted as a front company for "illegal revenues” collected from contractors seeking building permits from the municipality. Akkoyunlu and other suspects from Kent A.Ş. are also accused of acting like members of the municipal department in charge of issuing building permits, greenlighting or rejecting permits, though they were not authorized.
Prosecutors say the suspects set up a secret database and assigned colors to contractors, determining how much they were supposed to pay. They also held meetings with Deveci to decide on the amount of (bribes) to be asked from contractors in exchange for permits.
More than 20 mayors governing CHP municipalities were detained or arrested in the past two years on charges of corruption, along with dozens of municipal bureaucrats. The CHP won the municipal elections in Üsküdar for the first time in more than two decades in 2024.
By-election debate
The CHP claims the charges against its mayors are politically motivated and has long campaigned for an early election. When this campaign had limited support, it has now turned its focus to a "by-election” to fill the vacant seats in Parliament. The party’s leader, Özgür Özel, launched a tour of opposition politicians for support of the by-election. The CHP believes this may force the government to reschedule the general election as well, though President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has flatly rejected any plans for an election of any kind earlier than the scheduled 2028 vote.
Özel on Sunday visited the far-right Victory Party (ZP) led by Ümit Özdağ, a politician who sought ministerial posts from former CHP chair and 2023 presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in exchange for supporting him. Özdağ expressed his support to the CHP’s by-election campaign, joining a growing chorus of the opposition politicians aligning with the main opposition. However, so far, this does not necessarily translate into a broader opposition alliance in case of any early election or the 2028 elections. Özdağ notoriously withdrew his support for Kılıçdaroğlu when their negotiations collapsed and instead, joined another opposition alliance against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, only to see its candidate withdraw from the race early.