Turkish police on Wednesday raided city hall in the opposition-run Mersin Metropolitan Municipality in southern Turkey as part of a corruption investigation, a move that comes amid growing pressure by the government on municipalities controlled by the country’s main opposition party, Turkish media reported.
Officers from the provincial police department’s organized crime unit searched city hall early in the morning as part of a probe into allegations of bribery and bid rigging in public tenders, the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
Prosecutors said several suspects, including municipal employees, were detained in the operation. They seized three vehicles and a boat believed to belong to suspects linked to the investigation.
Police also searched the home and office of the municipality’s chief of staff, Mersin Mayor Vahap Seçer said.
Seçer, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the investigation relates to municipal procurement procedures and that no inquiry had been opened against him personally.
“This investigation is not a surprise to me,” Seçer said.
The probe comes as tensions have grown between the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and municipalities controlled by the CHP, which governs several of Turkey’s largest cities after making major gains in local elections in 2024.
The most significant judicial action targeting the CHP came with İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s arrest on March 23. The CHP’s 2028 presidential candidate and President Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, İmamoğlu was charged with “founding and leading a criminal organization” and faced cumulative prison sentences of up to 2,430 years. Authorities blocked his outside communication, seized businesses linked to his family and arrested his lawyer.
The crackdown has extended beyond İstanbul to other CHP-run municipalities including Ankara, İzmir and Antalya, with hundreds detained or arrested.
The party’s leadership has also faced legal challenges, including a court case seeking to annul its national congress and the appointment of a government trustee to the party’s İstanbul branch. Several mayors have defected to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a move attributed to sustained political pressure.
Protests against the crackdown were violently dispersed. Human rights groups described some instances as “amounting to torture.” Journalists covering the demonstrations were detained, while opposition media faced threats, access restrictions and administrative fines. International organizations and human rights groups expressed concerns about politically motivated prosecutions and broader human rights violations.
