Turkey’s Interior Ministry has authorized an investigation into Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) over allegations that municipal vehicles were used during a 2023 election rally, prompting criticism from the opposition.
According to Turkish Minute, the authorization relates to claims that six minibuses belonging to the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality were allegedly used at a presidential campaign rally in the northwestern province of Karabük.
The municipality rejected the decision, saying it was based on assumptions rather than evidence.
In a written statement the municipality said the investigation file acknowledged there was no evidence that Yavaş had instructed or approved the alleged use of municipal resources.
Despite this, prosecutors sought to hold him responsible on the grounds that such actions could not have taken place without his knowledge, the statement said.
The municipality said no written or verbal directive had been issued to use public resources for political purposes and that internal inspections launched by Yavaş found no wrongdoing.
Calling the decision “a strain on the law,” the municipality described it as an attempt to intimidate and discredit Yavaş despite the lack of concrete evidence, adding that no investigations had been launched into previous administrations accused of using public resources during election campaigns.
The municipality also said it would appeal the decision and provide further details at a press briefing.
CHP leader Özgür Özel criticized the move, drawing comparisons with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s conduct during the 2023 election campaign, when Turkey held parliamentary and presidential elections.
Özel said Erdoğan, as a presidential candidate and incumbent president, “used all state resources,” attended rallies and inaugurations without observing democratic norms and declared, “I am the president.”
He said those who had ignored repeated warnings were now showing “remarkable sensitivity” over the alleged use of municipal vehicles at the Karabük rally.
The opposition has frequently accused Erdoğan of exploiting the advantages of incumbency during election campaigns, a criticism also voiced by international observers. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said after the 2023 elections that the president and ruling parties enjoyed an “unjustified advantage,” including through misuse of administrative resources and biased media coverage.
The development comes amid what critics describe as an expanding legal campaign against the CHP following its gains in the March 2024 local elections, when the party won control of many major cities and handed President Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) one of its worst municipal defeats in years.
Since October 2024 opposition mayors and municipal officials have faced a series of corruption and terrorism-related investigations that critics say are politically motivated.
Legal scrutiny has also reached Ankara. In late March a court accepted an indictment of 10 people over alleged misconduct in procurement procedures at the CHP-run Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. The case, based on a 2022 audit report, was approved by the Interior Ministry.
The ministry had earlier granted permission to investigate Yavaş and his chief of staff, Nevzat Uzunoğlu, over allegations of abuse of office and neglect of supervisory duties related to municipal concert spending.
Within the CHP there is growing concern that the crackdown could expand beyond municipalities to target senior party figures, including Yavaş and the party leadership.
Yavaş, who was re-elected in 2024 with more than 60 percent of the vote, is widely seen as a potential presidential contender if İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — currently in pretrial detention — is barred from running.
İmamoğlu was arrested in March 2025, triggering large-scale protests across Turkey and coinciding with turbulence in financial markets, deepening concerns about political pressure on the opposition.
While some party officials warn the crackdown could expand further, others say the economic fallout since March 2025, combined with regional instability, may limit the government’s willingness to escalate tensions.
