A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of 29 suspects as part of an investigation into alleged corruption at the Halfeti Municipality in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, including a former mayor from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Former mayor Şeref Albayrak is among those jailed pending trial, according to information released following court proceedings. The suspects had been detained on April 24 in a probe led by anti-smuggling and organized crime units.
Four detainees were released by police after questioning, while a court ordered the release of three others. Fourteen suspects were placed under judicial supervision.
The investigation was launched on suspicion of forming a criminal organization and obtaining unjust financial gain, the Interior Ministry said in an earlier statement, adding that the case is based on inspection reports by the ministry, the Tax Inspection Board and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
Twenty-eight of the 51 suspects are public officials, including municipal administrators and staff.
Albayrak was appointed as a government trustee to Halfeti Municipality in 2016 and later elected mayor in 2019 as an AKP candidate, serving until 2024. He lost his re-election bid in the March 2024 local elections to a candidate from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
The arrests come amid an ongoing crackdown on opposition-run municipalities following the March 2024 local elections, in which the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) achieved its strongest nationwide result in decades. Since then dozens of CHP mayors have faced investigations, detention or removal from office.
According to recent media reports, 20 CHP mayors are in jail, while 25 have been suspended, including İstanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Several municipalities have been put under trustee rule or have shifted to the AKP through city council votes or defections after elected mayors were removed.
The CHP has repeatedly claimed that the investigations disproportionately target municipalities it controls and are politically motivated.
Some critics have also suggested that the detention of a former AKP mayor may be aimed at countering accusations of selective enforcement.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said in a television interview last week that the absence of operations targeting AKP-run municipalities “does not mean they will not happen.”
Following the arrests, former AKP lawmaker Şamil Tayyar said on social media that Albayrak’s detention was “the strongest response” to claims that investigations do not target members of the ruling party.
He also suggested that probes into other municipalities could follow, warning that “no one should see themselves as untouchable.”