A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of 12 people detained in a new operation targeting a subsidiary of the İstanbul Municipality over allegations of bid rigging, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Anka news agency.
The suspects were among 30 people for whom detention warrants were issued last week as part of a corruption investigation into the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)-run municipality. Eleven others who were referred to court on Monday were released under judicial supervision.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the operation, launched on May 8, concerned allegations that public tenders were manipulated through Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş., a subsidiary of the İstanbul Municipality involved in landscaping.
Prosecutors had issued detention warrants for 30 people, 29 of whom were initially taken into custody, while one suspect was abroad, according to earlier reports.
Seven detainees had previously been referred to the courthouse. One was released directly by prosecutors. Five, including İstanbul Municipality Deputy Secretary-General Oktay Özel, were released under judicial supervision, including a travel ban and a requirement to regularly sign in at a police station, while one person was put under house arrest.
The remaining 23 detainees were later sent to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan after undergoing medical checks. A criminal court of peace ordered the arrest of 12 suspects on Monday.
Among those jailed were Derya Dağdeviren, a niece of Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, the wife of imprisoned İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and Dağdeviren’s husband, Murat Dağdeviren.
Two of Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu’s brothers had previously been arrested as part of investigations targeting the municipality.
Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu criticized the arrests in a social media post, saying the couple’s two children, aged 5 and 8, had been separated from both parents.
“We are facing an order that has become so devoid of conscience that it can tear two children, one 5 and the other 8, away from both their mother and father,” she said.
She said those who signed off on decisions that would cause children to grow up without their parents should know that “this lawlessness” would deeply wound the children’s lives now and in the future.
The operation comes as İmamoğlu, a leading rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, remains imprisoned and is standing trial with 413 co-defendants in a major İstanbul Municipality case. If convicted, he faces up to 2,430 years in prison.
İmamoğlu and his supporters accuse the government of using the judiciary to sideline him ahead of the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028. The government denies that the courts act under political influence.
He has been in pretrial detention since March 2025.
