Turkish police on Monday detained 29 people, including municipal staff and the western province of Uşak’s provincial head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), in an operation targeting the Uşak Municipality that expanded a corruption investigation that already led to the jailing and suspension of Mayor Özkan Yalım last month, Turkish Minute reported.
Those detained in the latest operation included CHP Uşak provincial chairman Celalettin Çoban and Özhan Özgöbek, president of the Uşakspor football club. Prosecutors said the case involves allegations of bid-rigging, bribery and extortion, along with claims that money was collected from merchants and under the name of donations to Uşakspor, that cash was brought to the mayor’s office as purported donations and that spending by senior municipal officials at entertainment venues was later billed to the municipality as hospitality expenses.
The operation was carried out simultaneously in İstanbul, Uşak and İzmir. Prosecutors said it was based on witness statements, testimony from suspects cooperating with prosecutors under “effective remorse” provisions, digital examination reports and findings from Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
The new operation follows a first series of raids on March 27, when authorities detained 13 people, including Yalım, in Uşak, Kocaeli and Ankara. A court later arrested Yalım and eight others, while other suspects were released under judicial supervision.
Those jailed in the first wave included Deputy Mayor Halil Arslan, Accounting and Finance Director Hüseyin Yaman, Chief of Staff Hasan Doğukan Kurnaz, driver Murat Altınkaya, municipal employees Cihan Aras and İsmail Özçelik, Uşak Haber Medya company owner Murat Baş and Mustafa Yalım.
In a later phase of the same investigation, Deputy Mayor Serpil Keskin Ezberci, municipal employees Deniz Aygün and Ulaş Küçükakın and chief of staff office employee Ebru Yurtuluğ were also detained and then released under judicial supervision.
After Yalım’s arrest, the Interior Ministry suspended him from office, and the city council chose CHP council member Hatice Terekeci Özkan as acting mayor. His assets were seized and the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) was appointed trustee to his companies.
The Uşak case is part of a broader campaign against CHP-run municipalities that has intensified after the party’s gains in the March 2024 local elections. The most prominent target remains İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, whose corruption trial began in March after nearly a year in pretrial detention.
