Over the past week, the opposition-held Istanbul municipality has been hit by new waves of arrests targeting public officials employed by the city. The investigation, launched by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor, accuses municipality officials of ‘corruption’ and ‘bribes’.

These developments follow the March 19th arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The mayor’s arrest was widely seen as a watershed political event in Turkey and was followed by the country’s most major protests in over a decade. Days following his arrest, İmamoğlu was nominated as presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Last week (May 27), 25 municipal employees were detained, including the city’s executive assistant Kadriye Kasapoğlu, KİPTAŞ municipal housing agency chairman Ali Kurt, and neighborhood unit (Muhtarlık) department head Yavuz Saltık.

21 of the 25 individuals arrested were then released on parole.

A wave of arrests........

© Medyascope