ANKARA (Medyascope) – Turkish Interior Ministry has green-lighted an investigation into Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş over allegedly using municipal vehicles for a 2023 political rally in the neighboring province of Karabük. Yavaş, a member of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been mayor of Ankara since 2019.
Key Takeaways
- Turkish Interior Ministry has green-lighted an investigation into Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş
- Yavaş denies accusations.
- CHP leader Özgür Özel said that President Erdoğan is using public funds all the time.
- Yavaş is regarded as a challenger to President Erdoğan
Turkish Interior Ministry approves investigation
In an announcement following the news, the Ankara municipality denied the allegations. The announcement stated that resources from the municipality were not used during the election campaign and added that Yavaş had not even collected a salary during this period.
The announcement from the municipality also noted that the previous Mayor of Ankara, who belonged to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), routinely used municipal resources during election cycles and was never the subject of investigations.
In a similar statement, CHP chairman Özgür Özel commented “President Erdoğan uses all government resources at his disposal, simply by saying ‘I’m the president’.”
Yavaş has vowed to file an objection to the investigation, which his team has rejected as baseless and unlawful.
This investigation is not the first to target Yavaş’s Ankara municipal administration. In September 2025, 13 municipal officials were detained over alleged misuse of municipal funds in organizing a series of concerts in the Turkish capital from 2021-2024.
Although Yavaş himself was among the arrests, the investigation was seen as a step closer to targeting the mayor himself. Yavaş is widely seen as a potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, especially following the jailing of Istanbul Mayor and CHP Presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu in March 2025.
Recent arrests of opposition officials in Uşak, Bursa, and Istanbul have further tightened the noose around Turkey’s main opposition CHP, which has experienced a historic crackdown since early 2025, following major gains in 2024 local elections.
Translated by Leo Kendrick for Medyascope
