Turkish authorities have detained 40 people, including İnan Güney, the opposition mayor of Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, in what the government calls a widening anti-corruption investigation into companies linked to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
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| Istanbul district mayor detained in probe targeting the opposition Istanbul district mayor detained in probe targeting the opposition Istanbul district mayor detained in probe targeting the opposition |
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said warrants had been issued for 44 individuals in total, accusing them of involvement in fraud, bribery, abuse of office, and unlawful acquisition of personal data. Those detained include Güney’s chief of staff, his bodyguard, the head of his press office, senior figures at two municipal companies—Medya A.Ş, which manages the municipality’s media operations, and Kültür A.Ş, responsible for cultural events and venues—and Yiğit Oğuz Duman, a senior adviser to Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Prosecutors claim the suspects were tied to what they describe as a “criminal organisation” allegedly run by İmamoğlu’s jailed spokesman Murat Ongun and a fugitive, Emrah Bağdatlı. Nine are accused of running the group’s social media operations.
Among the 35 suspects, including Güney, are figures associated with Medya A.Ş and Kültür A.Ş, said to have been involved in multiple fraudulent activities within the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Charges cited include running a criminal organisation for financial gain, bribery, abuse of office, defrauding public institutions, and unlawful acquisition of personal data.
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Doubts over key witness testimony
The arrests came just a week after jailed businessman Murat Kapki gave a new statement on August 7, accusing Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney of having close ties to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and of profiting from the city’s billboard and outdoor advertising business. He alleged that Güney maintained influence over municipal advertising allocations despite serving as mayor, and highlighted his relationship with Serkan Öztürk, a suspect he said acted as an intermediary in awarding contracts to preferred firms.It is important to note however, that Kapki has also alleged that, while in prison, he was approached by Mücahit Birinci, a lawyer and former AKP executive, who offered him a reduced sentence or release if he signed a prewritten statement accusing CHP figures of corruption, paid $2 million, and provided false testimony. Kapki said he refused.
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Yesterday, (August 13), CHP leader Özgür Özel held a press conference releasing Kapki’s formal complaint against Birinci and accusing him of pressuring detainees to give false statements in exchange for their freedom. Özel also named other individuals, alleging a broader corruption network in which AKP-connected attorneys attempt to extort and coerce detainees into implicating CHP officials.
CHP alleges dirty politics
The CHP, Turkey’s main opposition party, condemned the arrests as politically motivated. CHP parliamentary group leader Gökhan Günaydın described the detentions as “a political design effort” aimed at reshaping Turkey’s municipal map, alleging mayors were threatened with prosecution unless they defected to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Burhanettin Bulut, CHP’s deputy chair for media relations, called the operation “a disgraceful document of the pressure regime.”
The arrests form part of what opposition leaders and rights groups describe as an unprecedented purge of CHP-run local governments. In 2024, the AKP lost its plurality for the first time since its founding in 2001, with local elections delivering a major blow to its hold on municipalities and ending its dominance as Turkey’s leading party. Since late 2024, at least 15 CHP mayors have been removed from office and more than 500 party officials, employees, and contractors detained. The government maintains that the investigations target corruption, not politics, and insists the judiciary is independent.
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Beyoğlu: a symbolic battleground
At the centre of the dispute is Ekrem İmamoğlu, the high-profile Istanbul mayor and CHP’s presidential candidate. Arrested in March, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison for “insulting” a prosecutor and now faces trial on a string of charges ranging from corruption to document falsification. His detention sparked the largest protests in Turkey since the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations—initially triggered by plans to redevelop a small park in central Istanbul but quickly transforming into a nationwide movement against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule. As in 2013, the 2025 protests were met with heavy police force, mass detentions, and sweeping bans on public gatherings.
Medyascope'u destekle. Medyascope'a abone ol.
Medyascope’u senin desteğin ayakta tutuyor. Hiçbir patronun, siyasi çıkarın güdümünde değiliz; hangi haberi yapacağımıza biz karar veriyoruz. Tıklanma uğruna değil, kamu yararına çalışıyoruz. Bağımsız gazeteciliğin sürmesi, sitenin açık kalması ve herkesin doğru bilgiye erişebilmesi senin desteğinle mümkün.
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Beyoğlu carries deep symbolic weight in Turkish politics. The district includes Taksim Square, historically the heart of Istanbul and a long-standing stage for political expression, labour rallies, and mass opposition gatherings. Since Gezi, the government has effectively sealed the square to opposition events, with only brief, quickly dispersed protests taking place.
Conservative groups, however, have at times been allowed to gather there—most recently a religious order protesting the satirical magazine Leman over what they claimed was a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, echoing the global fallout from the Charlie Hebdo affair.
The CHP’s hold on Beyoğlu remains tenuous. The party had not won the district since 1977, reclaiming it only in the June 2019 rerun of Istanbul’s mayoral election. In the first, annulled March vote, İmamoğlu narrowly lost to the AKP, but in the rerun—ordered after Turkey’s High Election Board controversially voided the initial result—he won both a citywide landslide over AKP’s Binali Yıldırım and a narrow victory in Beyoğlu, taking 51.6% of the vote to the AKP’s 47.5%.
