Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office has issued arrest warrants for 48 members of the Bayrampaşa District Council, including the head of the district Hasan Mutlu, his deputies and several members of the city council. This was reported by Agos newspaper.
The investigation concerns suspicions of bribery, abuse of power, fraud during tenders and other economic crimes. Law enforcement officers searched 72 places, including offices and private residences of the suspects.
The head of the district, Hasan Mutlu, said in his address that he sees political motives in this:
“I have no business that is illegal”.
This operation against officials in Bayrampasa is part of a wider campaign against representatives of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in various cities of the country.
The events took place the day after the trial began against the main opposition presidential candidate, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. He was detained on the charge that his university degree is “fake”. The prosecutor’s office is seeking for Imamoglu a sentence of up to 8 years and 9 months of imprisonment and a political ban on charges of “consecutive forgery of official documents”.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), led by Imamoglu, will have a key hearing on September 15. The court will consider charges of “fraud” at the party congress at the end of 2023, when the current leader Özgür Özel was elected. Under his leadership, the CHP won the municipal elections, the first in more than 45 years and Erdoğan’s first defeat.
If the court makes a decision not in Ozel’s favor, its former leader Kemal Kylichdaroglu may become the leader of the party again. He has already declared his readiness to return. In Turkey, many political observers consider him an unspoken ally of Erdogan, who helps the president form an opposition convenient for him.
