A Turkish court on Friday ordered the arrest of five people, including former officials of the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, in connection with a corruption probe into spending on concerts organized by the opposition-run city hall, the Anka news agency reported.
The Ankara Criminal Court ruled that the suspects, among them former heads of the municipality’s culture department and executives from private event companies, be jailed pending trial on charges of bid rigging and embezzlement. Nine other people detained earlier in the investigation were released under judicial supervision.
The case centers on allegations that 32 cultural events held between 2021 and 2024 caused a loss to the city of 154 million lira ($3.7 million). Prosecutors say the spending was manipulated through inflated contracts, pointing to findings by the Interior Ministry, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board and the Court of Accounts.
The arrests followed a wave of detentions on September 23, when 14 current and former municipal officials were taken into custody on accusations of misconduct and bid rigging.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who won re-election in March 2024 with more than 60 percent of the vote and is viewed as a potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2028, has dismissed the allegations. He said earlier audits found no irregularities and described the probe as politically motivated.
The municipality has also contrasted its spending with that of previous administrations under the ruling Justice and Development Party, noting that between 2014 and 2019, $33 million was spent on 80 events, while from 2019 until October 2024, $30 million was spent on 426 events.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which controls Ankara city hall, has denounced the investigation, accusing the judiciary of bias and of targeting opposition-led municipalities after their electoral victories last year.