A Turkish court on Saturday jailed 39 people pending trial in a corruption investigation targeting İstanbul’s opposition-run Bakırköy district municipality, including senior municipal officials, the Bianet news website reported.
The case is part of a series of investigations into municipalities won by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the 2024 local elections. Bakırköy Mayor Ayşegül Ovalıoğlu left the CHP and joined the opposition New Party on October 27, the day the operation began.
Four deputy mayors, an acting deputy mayor and two city council members were among those jailed, according to Anadolu. Municipal department heads, employees and company representatives were also taken into custody.
Another 18 suspects were released under judicial supervision, while six were released after questioning by prosecutors. The decisions accounted for all 63 people detained in the investigation.
Ovalıoğlu criticized the arrest decisions, saying the employees had fixed addresses and long records of public service. She said the municipality would continue cooperating with the investigation but objected to staff being deprived of their freedom and separated from their families while the proceedings remained ongoing.
The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating suspected bid-rigging and extortion by public officials, examining 42 procurement files covering purchases of goods and services between 2024 and 2026.
Prosecutors allege that procurement irregularities caused losses to public funds and that officials demanded unlawful payments from businesses applying for operating licenses. Applications from businesses that refused to pay were allegedly delayed.
The operation began on October 27, when 56 people were initially reported detained. Later reports put the number at 63.
That evening, Ovalıoğlu announced her move to the New Party along with the mayors of Küçükçekmece and Çatalca and Büyükçekmece’s acting mayor. Ovalıoğlu was not among those listed as arrested.
Former CHP leader Özgür Özel established the New Party on July 24 after a court annulled the CHP’s 2023 leadership election, removed him as chairman and reinstated his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The breakaway party is now the largest opposition group in parliament.
Investigations into opposition municipalities intensified after İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leading political rivals, was jailed in March 2025 on corruption charges he denies.
Opposition parties accuse the government of using the judiciary to weaken elected rivals and reverse their gains in the 2024 local elections. The government denies interfering in the courts and claims prosecutors and judges act independently.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
