A Turkish court has jailed Erdal Beşikçioğlu, an award-winning actor who became mayor of Ankara’s Etimesgut district, and 39 others pending trial in a corruption investigation, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Monday.
Beşikçioğlu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was among 55 people detained in raids across nine provinces on July 30.
The Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses the suspects of offenses including forming or belonging to a criminal organization, embezzlement, bribery, extortion by public officials, bid-rigging and misconduct in public contracts.
Prosecutors sought the pretrial detention of Beşikçioğlu and 43 others following questioning. The court jailed 40 and released the remaining four under judicial supervision. Ten other suspects had already been released under similar measures, while one was hospitalized.
The investigation involves 42 municipal officials, including three deputy mayors, and 13 representatives of companies that did business with the municipality.
The case concerns alleged irregularities and forged documents in municipal tenders as well as improper benefits connected to parking lot leases and zoning and construction permits. During last week’s operation, police searched 56 homes and 15 workplaces and seized materials from 41 vehicles.
Beşikçioğlu denied wrongdoing, saying some of the irregularities cited in Court of Accounts reports had been uncovered by an internal audit he ordered. He said municipal tenders were outside his direct authority and denied having personal or commercial ties to the companies under investigation.
He was also questioned over claims that municipal resources were used to film “Behzat Ç.,” the acclaimed television series in which he plays the title character. He said the production company paid the municipality and that the filming promoted Etimesgut without causing any financial loss.
Beşikçioğlu also denied issuing unlawful instructions or personally benefiting from any municipal transaction.
“The allegations against me are abstract accusations and are not supported by material evidence,” Anadolu quoted him as saying.
The 56-year-old rose to national prominence playing a homicide detective who confronts corruption and political interference in “Behzat Ç.” He entered politics in 2024 and was elected mayor of Etimesgut, a district of about 600,000 people in western Ankara, the same year.
The municipality was the subject of a separate embezzlement investigation in March, when four people were detained. Beşikçioğlu said at the time that the inquiry had been launched in response to a criminal complaint filed by the municipality itself.
His imprisonment is the latest in a wave of investigations into CHP-run municipalities since the party defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the nationwide popular vote in the March 2024 local elections.
Police last week also arrested Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş and three others over alleged bribery, extortion and irregularities in building permit and occupancy procedures.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the most prominent opposition politician caught up in the cases, has been behind bars since March 2025. İmamoğlu, widely viewed as Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, and the CHP say the investigations are part of a government effort to weaken the opposition and roll back its electoral gains.
The government denies interfering in the cases and claims Turkey’s judiciary operates independently.
