 has imposed a 40.3 million lira ($895,000) administrative fine on trustee-run building contractor İmamoğlu İnşaat and ordered it to remedy zoning violations within one month or face demolition, the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily reported on Wednesday.){kind=link}
A district municipality in İstanbul controlled by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has imposed a 40.3 million lira ($895,000) administrative fine on trustee-run building contractor İmamoğlu İnşaat and ordered it to remedy zoning violations within one month or face demolition, the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily reported on Wednesday.
The company, owned by the family of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and partly by him, was put under trustee control following his arrest the in March 2025.
The penalty concerns a project in the Marmara neighborhood of Beylikdüzü where inspectors found uses inconsistent with zoning approvals. Authorities said sunshade facade elements in the A1, A2 and B blocks had been used for purposes not permitted in the approved building plans.
The Beylikdüzü Municipality said the company must either remedy the violations or bring the project into compliance within one month of formal notification. If it fails to do so, demolition measures could be enforced. Some additional penalties may be waived if the project is brought into compliance by the deadline, according to Yeni Şafak.
A separate administrative fine was also reportedly issued to the site supervisor for failing to meet legal obligations.
İmamoğlu, widely seen as the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was detained on March 19 and arrested on March 23, 2025, on the day CHP members formally selected him as their presidential candidate. He was also suspended from office.
Prosecutors accuse him of corruption, bid-rigging, bribery and leading a criminal organization, allegations he and the CHP reject as politically motivated.
The company was seized one day after his detention based on findings from Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), although prosecutors have not publicly detailed the evidence behind the move.
The case is unfolding amid an ongoing crackdown on the CHP following its landmark victory in the March 2024 local elections, when it won control of many of Turkey’s largest cities.
Since then, opposition officials have said the government has used criminal investigations, suspensions, trustee appointments, city council votes and party defections to weaken the party’s hold over local administrations. According to a tally recently published by the BirGün news website, 20 CHP mayors remain jailed, while 25 CHP mayors, including İmamoğlu, have been suspended from office,
Mehmet Murat Çalık, the elected mayor of Beylikdüzü, was also suspended after his arrest in the broader crackdown targeting CHP municipalities. Beylikdüzü was the municipality İmamoğlu led before becoming İstanbul mayor for the first time in 2019. He was re-elected in 2024.
Opposition leaders and rights groups say the judiciary is being used to sideline political rivals and reverse the opposition’s local election gains. The government denies interference and says courts act independently.