Turkish authorities have detained the opposition mayor of Bayrampaşa, a district of Istanbul, along with dozens of municipal officials, in the latest wave of what the government calls anti-corruption operations targeting opposition-run local governments.

Hasan Mutlu, a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was taken into custody early Monday morning. Five of his deputies, five municipal councillors, and a total of 48 people were named in detention warrants issued by Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor.

The raids covered 72 locations, including homes and workplaces. Prosecutors allege the suspects engaged in embezzlement, bribery, abuse of public office, and rigging public tenders — charges that carry lengthy prison sentences if proven.

Before being led away by police, Mutlu posted a statement on social media denying any wrongdoing and describing the operation as politically motivated.

“I have never taken a step I cannot account for. My head is held high, my conscience is clear. What we are witnessing are slanders and political persecution,” he said.

Mutlu, 63, was elected in the March 2024 local elections, part of a CHP surge that consolidated the party’s control over Istanbul and other major cities. He won Bayrampaşa — a working-class district on the European side of Istanbul that had not been run by the CHP for three decades — with nearly 47% of the vote.

His victory was part of a broader urban trend: the CHP has become the dominant political force in Turkey’s major cities, posing the most serious electoral challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in more than two decades.

The arrest follows a series of probes into CHP-led municipalities, which critics say are aimed at weakening the opposition ahead of national elections expected in........

© Medyascope