Turkey’s interior ministry has opened an inquiry into allegations made by the jailed executive of an İstanbul municipality-owned company that she was subjected to a strip-search and threatened through her children while in custody, two days after the İstanbul Police Department denied the claims.
The ministry said in a statement Friday that Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi ordered the inquiry after public reports that a person jailed pending trial in a criminal case had been subjected to mistreatment and improper search procedures during custody.
The ministry did not name Fatoş Pınar Türker in its statement.
It said a civil inspector and a police inspector had been assigned to examine the allegations “in all legal, administrative and technical aspects in a transparent manner.”
Türker, the former general manager of Media A.Ş., a company owned by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, made the allegations during a June 9 hearing before the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court at a prison complex in Silivri, west of İstanbul.
She is among 414 defendants in the İstanbul Municipality trial, including jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival. Sixty-eight defendants are being held in pretrial detention.
Türker told the court that officers at İstanbul police headquarters ordered her to remove her clothes and underwear and then told her to expose her genitals and bend over.
She said the practice was meant to humiliate detainees.
“I am not ashamed,” Türker told the courtroom. “Let those who did it be ashamed.”
Türker also alleged that a prosecutor threatened to have social services take custody of her children if she did not give the statement sought by authorities.
“A mother should not be told such things,” she said. “They threatened me through my children.”
The İstanbul Police Department said June 10 that all arrest, custody, body search and judicial procedures at the department are carried out under the constitution, human rights principles and procedures open to judicial review.
“In the incident in question, no unlawful practice occurred during the person’s custody procedures and the allegations do not reflect the truth,” the department said.
The police denial came before the ministry announced that inspectors had been assigned to look into the claims.
Opposition politicians and rights advocates had called for an investigation after Türker’s testimony.
İmamoğlu urged authorities to determine whether officials involved in the alleged mistreatment should face scrutiny.
Independent lawmaker Mustafa Yeneroğlu also submitted parliamentary questions to the Interior Ministry and said authorities could not remain silent in the face of the allegations.
Türker was detained on March 19, 2025, as part of a sweeping corruption investigation targeting more than 100 people linked to İstanbul’s opposition-run municipality.
She was later jailed pending trial and remains in pretrial detention.
Prosecutors accuse defendants in the case of offenses including bribery, fraud and involvement in an alleged criminal organization, allegations they deny.
Opposition politicians say the case is politically motivated and aimed at sidelining İmamoğlu, who is seen as the strongest challenger to Erdoğan. Turkish authorities say the investigation concerns alleged criminal wrongdoing.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
