In the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 11), several opposition-controlled municipalities were raided as part of an ‘anti-terror operation’ initiated by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor. Deputy mayors from Istanbul’s Kartal and Ataşehir districts were arrested in the operation, along with eight other officials belonging to Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Seven of detainees are reportedly CHP representatives from local district city councils including Üsküdar, Sancaktepe, Fatih, Tuzla, Adalar, Şişli, and Beyoğlu.

An announcement from the prosecutor’s office read: “As part of the operation carried out at 06:00am on 11/02/2025, all suspects were caught and detained, and organizational documents and other criminal evidence were collected. Search operations are continuing in the residences of the suspects, and in the workplaces belonging to suspects [Kartal and Ataşehir deputy mayors] C.Y. and L.G.”

The announcement from the prosecutor’s office also alleged that a cooperation plan between the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party had been designed by the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). The PKK is classified by Ankara as a terrorist organization and has been involved in varying levels of conflict with Turkish forces since the 1980s, especially in the country’s southeast.

A separate investigation also targeting Kartal municipality involving the unlawful leasing of municipality-owned real estate was also announced early Tuesday. The investigation targets Kartal district mayor Gökhan Yüksel as well as 20 other defendants.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is also currently under investigation, released a statement early Tuesday condemning the arrests and calling for early elections:

“These officials have been carrying out their duties in a normal fashion and then are suddenly declared ‘terrorists’ once the elections are over…We demand early elections in order to deliver Turkey the democracy and prosperity that it deserves.”

Numerous elected........

© Medyascope