, and 16 others as part of a corruption investigation.){kind=link}
Turkish police on Friday detained the mayor of İstanbul’s Silivri district, run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and 16 others as part of a corruption investigation, the Anka news agency reported.
Silivri Mayor Bora Balcıoğlu, municipal officials and businesspeople were detained in simultaneous operations carried out by the financial crimes police early Friday in an investigation launched by the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Police also searched the Silivri Municipality building, where officers reportedly examined documents and digital materials in several departments.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the investigation concerns allegations that municipal procedures were used to obtain improper benefits, including in hiring, zoning, licensing, the sealing of businesses or construction sites, illegal construction, property acquisitions and the sale of municipal real estate.
Prosecutors alleged that the sale of an unregistered municipal property designated as a park area at a low price caused the public a loss of TL 21.5 million ($464,000).
The detainees face accusations including forming or joining a criminal organization, bribery, extortion, abuse of office, bid rigging and money laundering.
The prosecutor’s office claimed there was a strong suspicion that the alleged offenses were committed within an organized structure and that Balcıoğlu was the founder and leader of the group.
The suspects were taken to the İstanbul Police Department for questioning.
CHP spokesperson Müslim Sarı said the party was closely following the investigation and detentions.
“We will continue to monitor the process to ensure that it is conducted transparently, impartially and within the framework of the law, away from political debates,” Sarı said in a statement on X.
Balcıoğlu was elected mayor of Silivri in the March 31, 2024, local elections, in which the CHP won control of many municipalities across Turkey, dealing a major blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He received 53 percent of the vote at the time.
The operation comes amid an ongoing wave of investigations and detentions targeting CHP-run municipalities since the opposition’s strong performance in the 2024 local elections.
Critics and rights groups have described the cases as part of growing pressure on Turkey’s main opposition, while the government insists the judiciary acts independently.
The CHP has also been embroiled in an internal leadership crisis since a May 21 court decision ousted party leader Özgür Özel and the current party leadership, reinstating former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team.
The ruling, along with the continued imprisonment of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, has deepened concerns among government critics about judicial pressure on the opposition.
Özel and the CHP leadership have repeatedly accused Erdoğan’s government of using the courts to pressure the opposition and weaken the party ahead of the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028.
The government denies interfering in the judiciary and says Turkish courts act independently.