Four well-known public figures were briefly detained on Thursday as part of an expanded, drug-related investigation targeting celebrities, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
Singer Aleyna Tilki, actor İrem Sak, social media influencer Danla Bilic and a woman identified as Mümmine Senna Yıldız were taken into custody early Thursday during coordinated raids across İstanbul.
They were taken to the Council of Forensic Medicine, where blood and hair samples were collected. All four were later released on Thursday afternoon.
Searches were also carried out at the registered addresses of actor Melisa Döngel, singer Yusuf Güney and journalist and social media influencer Cihan Şensözlü, but the suspects were not found at those locations.
The prosecutors said in a statement that the operation targeted individuals suspected of purchasing, accepting or possessing narcotics for personal use, or of using drugs.
Arrest warrants were also issued for social media influencers Şeyma Subaşı and Mert Vidinli, as well as model Şevval Şahin, after prosecutors determined that they were abroad.
According to the prosecutor’s office, searches were conducted at seven locations in the Sarıyer, Eyüp, Şişli, Üsküdar, Bakırköy and Esenyurt districts starting at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after Tilki’s detention, her lawyer Ayşegül Mermer said that no incriminating evidence had been found during the search of her client’s home.
“Based on the information I have received so far, no elements constituting a crime were identified during the search,” Mermer said, adding that a formal statement would be made once verified information becomes available, “in order to inform the public and protect the presumption of innocence.”
Separately, arrest warrants were issued earlier this week for businessman Kasım Garipoğlu and businessman Burak Ateş in connection with the investigation.
Earlier arrests linked to the same investigation
The case is part of a broader drug investigation in İstanbul that has recently seen several television news presenters detained for questioning or arrested on suspicion of drug use.
Television presenter Ela Rümeysa Cebeci was arrested earlier on charges of “facilitating drug use” after a drug test reportedly returned positive. Journalist Mehmet Akif Ersoy was also arrested in the case last week.
Social media influencer and business owner Sercan Yaşar was released after testifying to prosecutors and benefiting from provisions on effective remorse.
The prosecutor’s office said the investigation is ongoing.
Unlike many recent high-profile criminal investigations in Turkey, the probe has not targeted outspoken critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but has instead focused on media figures and business circles widely seen as close to the government.
Prosecutors have also relied heavily on the gendarmerie, a branch of the Interior Ministry that typically operates in rural areas, rather than İstanbul’s police force. Analysts and opposition commentators say the choice reflects concerns about potential leaks from within the police.
Some pro-government commentators have described the İstanbul-based operations as a “clean hands” campaign. Critics, however, have rejected that characterization.
Investigative journalist Alican Uludağ said detaining a small number of celebrities over alleged drug use does not amount to a genuine anti-corruption drive.
“When you take in two famous people for alleged drug use, that does not mean the country has been cleansed,” Uludağ said. “If there were to be a real ‘clean hands’ operation in this country, it would have to target those in power — politicians, senior bureaucrats and business figures linked to them.”
Uludağ said such an effort would require prosecutors to question major contractors who have won the country’s largest public tenders, including in the defense sector, about alleged payments and intermediaries.
“Only then could it be called a clean hands operation,” he said, adding that allegations linked to defense contracts and dealings connected to the war in Ukraine deserved particular scrutiny.