Mücahit Birinci, a lawyer and former senior figure in Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), resigned on Sunday after main opposition leader Özgür Özel accused him of attempting to coerce a jailed businessman into giving false testimony and paying $2 million in exchange for his release.
Birinci, who had been referred to the AKP’s disciplinary board with a request for expulsion, announced his resignation on social media. In a statement he said he was stepping away from politics but pledged continued loyalty to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling him “a great leader” and “the trustee of believers.”
The resignation followed allegations made earlier this month by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özel, who said Birinci met with Murat Kapki, a businessman arrested in a sweeping investigation into the opposition-run İstanbul Municipality. According to Özel, Birinci presented Kapki with a one-and-a-half-page document and told him, “You will sign this and also pay $2 million, and you will walk free.”
Özel claimed the document included false statements linking municipal officials and other figures to criminal activity. He also shared Kapki’s written complaint against Birinci with the press.
Kapki, the owner of an advertising firm, is among dozens detained in an ongoing corruption and terrorism probe into İstanbul’s city government. The investigation also led to the March arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP’s most prominent figure and widely seen as Erdoğan’s strongest political challenger. İmamoğlu’s jailing triggered mass protests across Turkey and condemnation from Western governments, which described the case as politically motivated.
Following Özel’s news conference, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced it had opened an investigation into Birinci. The statement said prosecutors were acting on media reports and social media claims regarding the alleged prison meeting between Birinci and Kapki.
Birinci dismissed the accusations as “nonsense” and vowed to respond in detail later. “Nothing will be the same again,” he wrote in an earlier social media post addressing Özel.
The scandal comes amid a broader wave of politically charged prosecutions against opposition-run municipalities. The campaign began in October 2024 with the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer and later expanded to other districts in İstanbul as well as the provinces of Adana and Adıyaman.
Critics say the investigations are an attempt to overturn the results of the March 2024 local elections, in which the CHP dealt Erdoğan’s party its worst defeat in two decades by securing control of major cities.