, in two separate investigations into CHP-run municipalities in İstanbul and İzmir, the DHA news agency reported.){kind=link}
Turkish courts have arrested 25 people, including a district mayor from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), in two separate investigations into CHP-run municipalities in İstanbul and İzmir, the DHA news agency reported.
In the western province of İzmir, a court arrested Seferihisar Mayor İsmail Yetişkin and 11 others as part of an investigation conducted by the Seferihisar Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Yetişkin was among 17 people referred to court for their arrest following their detention last week after giving statements to prosecutors. One person was referred to the court under a request for judicial supervision, while two others were released by prosecutors.
The court later ruled to arrest 12 people, including Yetişkin.
In a separate investigation in İstanbul, a court arrested 13 more people as part of a probe into the CHP-run Şile Municipality.
Four others were released under judicial supervision after appearing in court late Monday, while one more person sought in the investigation was detained, according to DHA.
The İstanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating allegations of establishing a criminal organization, extortion, bribery and bid rigging.
The latest arrests came after a third series of police raids in the investigation. Police detained 17 people in simultaneous operations in İstanbul and İzmir on Friday after prosecutors issued detention warrants for 18 suspects. Searches were carried out at 21 locations.
The prosecutor’s office said the operation was based on witness statements, including some given under a law that allows suspects to receive a reduced sentence if they cooperate with authorities, as well as documents obtained during the investigation.
Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı and four municipal officials were arrested on July 14, 2025, in the first stage of the investigation into the municipality. Kabadayı, who was detained on July 10 along with five others, remains in pretrial detention.
A second wave of operations targeting the municipality was carried out on December 23, 2025, after prosecutors reviewed phone records and reports from Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), the state agency that examines suspicious financial transactions.
Fifteen of the 22 people detained in that operation were arrested, while seven were released under judicial supervision.
The Şile investigation is part of ongoing operations targeting CHP-run municipalities since the party defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the March 2024 local elections and became Turkey’s leading party at the ballot box for the first time in decades.
More than 30 CHP mayors have been arrested, removed from office or replaced by government-appointed trustees since the March 2024 local elections, according to a tally from BBC Turkish last week.
Hundreds of municipal officials have also been detained or arrested in investigations that prosecutors say involve corruption, terrorism links or other criminal allegations.
The CHP says the cases are politically motivated and aimed at weakening its local governments after the party’s election gains.
The crackdown has included İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s strongest political rival and the CHP’s presidential candidate, who has been jailed since March 2025. His arrest triggered Turkey’s largest anti-government protests in years.
Government officials deny that the investigations are political and claim the judiciary acts independently.