Prosecutors in northwestern Turkey have filed an indictment seeking up to three years in prison for jailed Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan on charges of blackmail, the DHA news agency reported.
The 13-page indictment, drafted by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and accepted by the Bolu 6th Criminal Court of First Instance, accuses Özcan of blackmail of a municipal employee identified only by the initials Ö.Ç.
In addition to a prison sentence of between one and three years, prosecutors are also seeking a judicial fine calculated on the basis of up to 5,000 days, a system in which courts set a daily amount based on the defendant’s income as well as restrictions on certain civil rights.
Özcan, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was previously arrested and removed from office as part of a separate investigation into alleged extortion.
The indictment also names three other suspects: Boluspor club president E.B., municipal council member H.E.S. and Özcan’s driver Mehmet Eren A., who are accused of acting together in the alleged blackmail scheme. Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of one to three years for each.
According to the indictment, prosecutors allege that Özcan used sensitive information to pressure a female municipal employee, Ö.Ç., into meeting him, conduct they classified as blackmail based on her testimony.
Özcan has denied the accusations, saying he was the victim of blackmail and filed complaints against the other suspects. He denied claims that he threatened the employee or had an inappropriate relationship with her.
The case also involves the employee’s former partner, who allegedly obtained private messages and demanded 20 million Turkish lira ($452,000), a car and a carwash business in exchange for not releasing them publicly.
Prosecutors say the suspect threatened to distribute the messages to the media if his demands were not met, while the other defendants allegedly acted as intermediaries in the negotiations.
The other defendants have also denied all charges.
The trial is expected to begin in the coming days.
Özcan was arrested earlier this month on charges of misconduct as part of an investigation into alleged extortion involving supermarket chains. He denies the charges.
The mayor has attracted criticism for measures widely described as discriminatory against Syrian refugees and other foreigners. He pushed through a tenfold increase in water and marriage registration fees for foreign nationals, canceled municipal aid for refugees and ordered the removal of Arabic-language shop signs, a move he later admitted was unlawful.
Turkey’s National Human Rights and Equality Institution (TİHEK) as well as rights groups have denounced these measures as discriminatory.
Özcan was re-elected in Bolu as the CHP’s mayoral candidate in the 2024 local elections and won the seat by garnering 52.9 percent of the vote.
His arrest came amid broader pressure on CHP-led municipalities, which has intensified since the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, in March 2025 on corruption charges.
There are currently 16 CHP mayors behind bars.
The party and its supporters say the legal proceedings targeting the CHP are designed to neutralize elected officials and sideline opposition leaders after the party’s gains in the 2024 polls.