Turkey’s Interior Ministry has launched an inspection in İstanbul’s Beylikdüzü district of documents dated between 2014 and 2019, when the opposition’s İstanbul mayoral candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was mayor of the district, Turkish journalist Saygı Öztürk reported on Tuesday.
According to Murat Çalık, the incumbent mayor of the district from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), ministry officials are looking into municipal transactions to find misconduct during İmamoğlu’s term in office.
On March 31 İmamoğlu won the mayoral election in İstanbul, ending the 25-year rule of Islamist parties, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Turkey’s Supreme Election Board in early May canceled the results of that election, scheduling a re-run poll on June 23.
According to most of the latest polls, opposition alliance candidate İmamoğlu is leading the race, ahead of the AKP’s candidate, Binali Yıldırım.
Turkish media reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided not to campaign for the new İstanbul election in order to minimize damage to his rule if the opposition wins again.