Turkish police detained eight people in two operations targeting municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in western Turkey on Thursday and Friday, as part of ongoing investigations into opposition municipalities, Turkish Minute reported.
In the western province of Uşak, prosecutors launched an investigation into the Eşme district municipality over alleged extortion.
Police on Friday detained four people including Eşme Mayor Yılmaz Tozan and his wife, Burcu Tozan, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend one remaining suspect. Officers also seized digital materials during a search of city hall.
In the northwestern province of Bolu, gendarmes on Thursday detained Mustafa Altındal, head of the Chamber of Greengrocers and Market Traders, along with two employees. The detentions were carried out as part of a separate investigation linked to a municipality. The three suspects were later referred to court following questioning. Altındal and one employee were subsequently arrested while the other suspect was released.
The recent detentions and arrests follow earlier arrests of CHP mayors in both Bolu and Uşak.
Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım had been arrested in late March as part of a probe into alleged bribery, extortion and bid-rigging at the municipality. Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan, also from the CHP, had been also jailed pending trial on misconduct charges in a separate investigation in early March.
The CHP has criticized the investigations, saying municipalities under its control are facing increasing legal pressure following the party’s gains in the March 2024 local elections, when it secured control of several major cities.
A municipal workers union said last month that the pressure has extended beyond individual cases. In a statement on March 31 the Confederation of Public Workers’ Unions’ Municipal and Local Administration Services Union said 85 municipalities had changed hands since the 2024 elections through trustee appointments, removals, arrests and shifts in city council control.
The union said trustees were appointed to 13 municipalities, while elected mayors were removed in 30 others and political control shifted in 55 through changes in local councils. It added that 19 mayors were in pretrial detention as of March 31, 2026.
The figures reflect what critics describe as growing legal and political pressure on opposition-run municipalities, particularly those governed by the CHP and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
Since October 2024 prosecutors have launched multiple corruption and misconduct investigations into CHP-run municipalities. In March 2025 İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was also arrested as part of a separate probe and remains in jail while his trial continues.
