, in an operation targeting alleged irregularities in municipal tenders in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.){kind=link}
Turkish police detained 49 people, including a former mayor from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in an operation targeting alleged irregularities in municipal tenders in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.
The operation in the Halfeti district has been launched based on suspected misconduct in procurement processes during multiple administrative periods, including years under government-appointed trustees.
Among those detained is former AKP mayor Şeref Albayrak. The suspects include municipal officials and staff — deputy mayors, city council members, department heads, engineers and technical personnel.
The raids were carried out by anti-smuggling and organized crime units of the Şanlıurfa Police Department in coordination with prosecutors in Birecik.
In a statement on X the Security Directorate General said the investigation involves allegations of forming a criminal organization and bid rigging. Legal action was launched against 51 suspects, including 28 public officials, with 49 taken into custody.
The probe relies on reports from the Interior Ministry’s inspection board as well as financial and tax audits. Judicial proceedings are ongoing, according to the statement.
Appointed as trustee in 2016, Albayrak was elected mayor in 2019 as an AKP candidate but lost the March 2024 election to the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
A district governor was later appointed as trustee.
The detention of a former AKP mayor comes amid criticism over what observers describe as a lack of similar operations targeting municipalities run by the ruling party, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has faced an ongoing crackdown for more than a year.
The party, with more than 20 mayors currently in pretrial detention, has faced mounting legal pressure following its electoral gains in major cities in the 2024 local elections.
The most prominent target remains İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, whose corruption trial began in March after nearly a year of pretrial detention.