The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has sought authorization from the interior ministry to investigate Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, a leading opposition figure and potential presidential challenger from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), over alleged irregularities in concert spending, deepening concerns over a sweeping crackdown on Turkey’s main opposition.
According to Turkish Minute, the prosecutor’s office seeks to investigate Yavaş and his chief of staff on suspicion of failing to adequately perform their supervisory duties. The move comes amid an ongoing case over concert contracts signed between 2021 and 2024 in which five former city officials were arrested last month on charges of embezzlement and bid rigging.
In a public statement on Friday Yavaş said his administration had already been audited multiple times by state agencies including the interior ministry’s civil inspectors and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), which found no wrongdoing. “Every transaction is transparent, every penny is recorded,” he said. “If they call, we are ready to testify voluntarily. We have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.”
The investigation concerns spending on 32 cultural events that prosecutors allege caused a loss of 154 million lira (about $3.7 million) to the municipality through inflated contracts. The probe led to 14 detentions in late September and five arrests, including former culture department heads and executives from private event companies.
Yavaş who was re-elected in 2024 with more than 60 percent of the vote, argued that the new request aims to criminalize him for exposing irregularities from the previous administration. “Some circles were disturbed that my name was not included in the indictment,” he said, referring to Ankara’s former ruling-party leadership. “This is the effort of those who want to distort the balance of justice.”
The CHP condemned the investigation as politically motivated, saying it aims to punish the opposition for defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in local elections. Party spokesman Deniz Yücel said the decision amounted to “an inquiry not against Yavaş, but against the will of Ankara’s voters.”
The probe follows a year-long crackdown on opposition-run city halls that includes the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, CHP’s presidential candidate for 2028, in March. Yavaş is widely viewed as a potential alternative presidential contender if İmamoğlu is barred from running.
