Twenty-nine people have been arrested pending trial in the latest phase of a bribery investigation targeting the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)-run Seferihisar Municipality in western Turkey, the Bianet news website reported on Wednesday.
Two city council members were among those arrested.
The Seferihisar Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched the fourth wave of operations in the investigation on September 11, issuing detention warrants for 48 suspects, 47 of whom were taken into custody.
The suspects included former Doğanbey mayor Halil Çadır, Seferihisar city council member Hüseyin Kocaer and Buca city council member Doğan Sarıkaya as well as municipal managers, engineers, architects and other employees and the owners, executives and employees of several companies.
Some were also suspected of leading or belonging to an organized crime group.
The 47 detainees were referred to court on Tuesday after undergoing police questioning. Prosecutors released one and requested the arrest of 36, while seeking judicial supervision for the remaining 10.
Following questioning, a judge ordered the arrest of 29 suspects, including Kocaer and Sarıkaya. The other 17, including Çadır, were released under judicial supervision.
The investigation began in May and expanded through several operations in June. Police detained 15 people, including Seferihisar Deputy Mayor İbrahim Gökhan Pehlivan, in one of the raids. Prosecutors said digital materials and documents belonging to the suspects had been seized.
Later that month Seferihisar Mayor İsmail Yetişkin was detained along with 23 others over alleged fund transfers ahead of the March 31, 2024, local elections that prosecutors said could constitute bribery.
Municipal officials and contractors were accused of exchanging bribes in cash and through bank transfers in connection with alleged irregularities in construction and zoning procedures.
Yetişkin has been in pretrial detention since late June, when a court arrested him and 11 others in an earlier phase of the investigation.
The Seferihisar case is among a series of investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities since the party defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the March 2024 local elections and emerged as the country’s leading party at the ballot box for the first time in decades.
The CHP says the investigations are politically motivated and intended to weaken its local governments following its electoral gains. Government officials deny political interference and claim that the judiciary operates independently.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
