Turkish police have detained 32 people, including former employees of four district municipalities in İstanbul, as part of an ongoing crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkish Minute reported on Tuesday.
İstanbul prosecutors issued detention warrants for 38 people in the investigation, including former deputy mayors and former and current city officials from the CHP.
Thirty-two suspects were detained in simultaneous operations at 31 locations in Samsun, Bursa, İzmir and İstanbul. Two of the suspects were already in prison, while two others were abroad.
The targeted municipalities, under investigation by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, are Ataşehir, Maltepe, Sarıyer and Şişli, all run by the CHP.
Among the 32 detained, 13 are actively working at these municipalities, while the rest are former employees.
The detainees are accused of providing financial support to the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, between 2014 and 2016.
The suspects are also accused of forming a committee to address the needs of DHKP/C-affiliated organizations, based on statements from a secret witness who is a former DHKP/C militant. They are further accused of providing financial support to the group through municipal tenders that allegedly included irregularities.
Tuesday’s operations follow a series of investigations and arrests targeting CHP municipalities in İstanbul, as a result of which three party mayors from the Esenyurt, Beşiktaş and Beykoz districts were removed from office and arrested.
In addition an İstanbul court ruled last month for the arrest of 10 senior municipal officials from the CHP on terrorism charges.
The CHP and government critics argue that these investigations are an attempt to discredit the party and weaken İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is seen as a potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if Erdoğan seeks another term in the next presidential election.
The opposition claims the government is using the judiciary to target CHP-run municipalities in retaliation for the party’s success in last year’s local elections, when the AKP sustained its worst defeat since it came to power in 2002.
