Hasan Mutlu, İstanbul’s Bayrampaşa district mayor, was detained Saturday along with 43 municipal staff on allegations of corruption as part of a year-long crackdown on municipalities run by Turkey’s main opposition party.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said it ordered the detention of 47 people on accusations of embezzlement, extortion, giving bribes, receiving bribes and bid rigging.
Prosecutors said police carried out searches at 72 residences and workplaces tied to the probe as investigators sought evidence linked to alleged irregularities in procurement and contract awards at the municipality.
The operation is the latest in a yearlong series of probes and detentions affecting municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The wave of actions included the detention and subsequent arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and other high profile municipal figures earlier this year, moves that the opposition brand as politically motivated.
Burhanettin Bulut, a CHP deputy chairman, called the latest operation “not an investigation but an attempt to undermine the will of the people” and said the party would defend the ballot box and democracy.
CHP lawmaker Veli Ağbaba said removing elected mayors and using dawn raids on municipal offices was a betrayal of democracy and the vote.
Ali Mahir Başarır, CHP deputy group chair, said the regular use of law enforcement to remove elected officials amounted to a declaration of war on the will of the people and that voters would reject the practice at the ballot box.
The allegations listed by prosecutors mirror those in other municipal probes, which focus on procurement, tenders and alleged kickbacks.
The move follows a court order last week that removed the İstanbul leadership of the CHP along with 196 delegates, appointing a caretaker board in their place.
Gürsel Tekin, a veteran CHP figure named by the court to head the party’s İstanbul office, entered the provincial headquarters on Monday under heavy police escort. Around 5,000 officers surrounded the building to overcome resistance from party members and supporters. Tekin has been accused by CHP supporters of siding with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) by accepting the role.
On Monday an Ankara court is scheduled to rule on the validity of the CHP’s 2023 intraparty congress, with many expecting the judges to annul the vote and remove the current party leadership.
Legal experts, opposition figures, political analysts and international observers warn that such a decision would mark the practical end of what remains of Turkey’s multiparty democracy.