The leader of an opposition party in Turkey condemned this week’s arrests of several mayors and party comrades on corruption charges and accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of using these allegations to undermine public trust in the Republican People’s Party (CHP) while replacing the accused officials with loyalists.
The arrests follow a three-month-long investigation into tender rigging. In total, 47 suspects have been charged and detained, including the Mayor of Beşiktaş, Rıza Akpolat, and the Mayor of Esenyurt, Ahmet Özer, who is already in custody over alleged connections to terrorism. Both are members of the CHP.
Prosecutors allege the suspects were part of an organization led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, which bribed mayors and senior executives to rig bidding processes in their favor, securing contracts for affiliated businesses. According to AHaber, many tenders were awarded to companies owned by members of the group, enabling them to amass significant profits.
Akpolat’s arrest has shocked the public, as he was elected in 2019 with 73% of the vote. Beşiktaş’s former CHP Mayor, Murat Hazinedar, faced similar accusations in 2022 when he was arrested on corruption and bribery charges. In 2023, prosecutors sought a prison sentence of 154 years for Hazinedar, according to Turkey Today.
The arrests have been widely condemned by the CHP. Prominent party members, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, argued that the charges are part of a deliberate effort to tarnish the party’s reputation. İmamoğlu expressed his support for Akpolat.
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel questioned the legitimacy of the investigation, asserting that it is a political maneuver aimed at discrediting the CHP.
“This is a political operation, and he [Erdoğan] is attempting to damage our party’s institutional identity through Rıza Akpolat,” Özel said. He criticized the practice of replacing arrested officials with government-appointed trustees, arguing that it undermines democratic norms since the replacements are not elected but imposed even before legal proceedings are finalized.
“There can be no dismissal before the legal process is concluded. If a deputy is to replace a dismissed official, they should be chosen from the party to which the nation has given the most authority,” he stated.
This pattern is not unique to the CHP. On January 10, 2025, two mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) were arrested on terrorism charges and replaced by trustees. The CHP claims Erdoğan has removed 154 opposition mayors over the past eight years, replacing them with his appointees—a practice they argue consolidates power and overrides election results.
These arrests underscore the ongoing tension between Turkey's ruling AKP and opposition parties, raising significant concerns about the independence of judicial processes and the erosion of democratic norms.
While the government frames the arrests as part of a crackdown on corruption and terrorism, opposition leaders contend they are a calculated political strategy to weaken rivals and consolidate power.
