Turkish police detained Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney and 43 others on Friday in a sweeping operation targeting opposition-run institutions in İstanbul, marking the latest escalation in a yearlong crackdown on the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Anka news agency reported.
Early morning raids were carried out across İstanbul on Friday. Among those taken into custody were Yiğit Oğuz Duman, a senior adviser to the mayor’s office since 2019, the Beyoğlu Municipality’s private secretary and Güney’s bodyguard, along with employees of the CHP-run İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB)-affiliated companies Medya A.Ş. and Kültür A.Ş.
Beyoğlu, a historic district at the heart of İstanbul’s cultural and political life, is home to landmarks such as İstiklal Avenue and Taksim Square, making its mayor a high-profile opposition figure in the city’s governance.
The detentions, which include senior municipal staff and former advisers to the İBB, were widely condemned by opposition figures as politically motivated and lacking legal basis.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects are accused of involvement in a criminal network allegedly linked to Murat Ongun, a senior adviser to jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is also in pretrial detention and suspect Emrah Bağdatlı, a media consultant currently at large.
Charges include running a criminal organization for profit, bribery, fraud and unlawful access to personal data. Prosecutors said the suspects played roles in schemes targeting public institutions through various İBB entities.
The Beyoğlu Municipality building was also searched and digital materials were seized.
Before his detention, Güney posted a photo on X with his wife, daughters and their dog, taken while police waited at his door. “Becoming mayor of Beyoğlu, where my father once worked as a laborer, has been the greatest honor of my life. … We defeated arrogance with grace in the March 31 elections. … Dear neighbors, I have spent my life in Beyoğlu, you all know me. You know that the reason for my detention is vile slander,” he wrote.
Polis arkadaşlar kapıda beni beklerken, gözaltına alınmadan önce, eşim Ayşen, kızlarım ve can dostumuzla birlikte bir fotoğraf çekildik.
31 Mart 2024'te edebimizle, 30 yıllık kibri yendik. Babamın zamanında işçisi olduğu Beyoğlu Belediyesi'ne başkan seçilmek, hayatımın bana… pic.twitter.com/plqVFJhVYO
— inan güney (@inanguney) August 15, 2025
Güney was elected mayor of Beyoğlu in the March 31, 2024 local elections. He ended the years-long Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule in the district, which began in 2004.
Opposition figures condemn detentions
CHP leader Özgür Özel, referring to the ninth series of operations against the party, wrote on X: “Even if you carry out 99 series [of operations], you won’t succeed. This is not justice, it’s a political operation orchestrated by the ruling party. They trust in their prosecutors and gangs; I trust the people.”
Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut called the detentions “the latest episode of a politically motivated trial” and “a disgraceful document of an oppressive regime.” Fellow Deputy Chair Ulaş Karasu accused the ruling party of “using the judiciary to carry out political operations” and said the CHP “would never bow to pressure or threats.”
The CHP’x İstanbul provincial chair, Özgür Çelik, said the detentions showed “a ruthless disregard for public will,” calling the raids “the actions of a government that knows it can no longer win democratically.”
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) also condemned the detentions. Co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan said they “disregard the democratic will” and called on the government to “immediately stop” such operations. Co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları warned that “any intervention in the people’s right to vote and be elected” threatens democratic values and societal peace.
Ninth wave of detentions since CHP’s 2024 victory
Friday’s raids are the ninth wave of operations targeting the İBB and affiliated institutions since the CHP scored a decisive victory in the March 2024 local elections. İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s top political rival, was arrested on corruption charges in March and has been jailed since.
İmamoğlu denies wrongdoing and calls the prosecutions “a transparent attempt” to block his candidacy in the next presidential election.