A Turkish court on Wednesday acquitted Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu of bid-rigging charges, six months after she defected from the main opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) amid increasing pressure on opposition mayors.
According to the Birgün daily, the Aydın 4th Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted Çerçioğlu and several co-defendants, while sentencing seven of the 32 people tried in the case to prison.
Çerçioğlu had been a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for 23 years before joining the AKP on August 4, 2025, along with eight other former opposition mayors during an event marking the party’s 24th anniversary.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year prison sentence and a ban from public office for Çerçioğlu on charges of “repeated bid rigging” and “repeated misuse of public office” in connection with municipal tenders conducted between 2013 and 2015.
Her acquittal came after CHP leader Özgür Özel alleged last month that Çerçioğlu had been pressured to switch parties, claiming she was told, “You will either go to Silivri [prison] or join the AKP.” Çerçioğlu denied the allegation and filed a criminal complaint over Özel’s remarks.
CHP officials accuse prosecutors of building cases on coerced testimony and say mayors often defect out of fear of imprisonment. Analysts say the wave of defections reflects a coordinated strategy to consolidate AKP control over municipalities captured by the opposition in the March 2024 local elections, in which the CHP defeated the AKP in most major cities.
Since the elections, nearly 60 opposition mayors have defected to the AKP, while 18 CHP mayors have been arrested on corruption or terrorism-related charges. Among them was İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP’s presidential candidate and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest rival.
