ISTANBUL: According to state-run media, the mayors of three significant southern Turkish cities were arrested on Saturday, adding to the swelling number of opposition leaders incarcerated since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March. According to Anadolu Agency, early-morning raids resulted in the arrest of Zeydan Karalar, the leader of Adana municipality, and Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman. Both belong to the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, which is the biggest opposition party.
According to Anadolu, the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office detained Muhittin Bocek, the CHP mayor of Antalya, along with two other suspects in a separate bribery probe. Tutdere was detained in the capital, Ankara, where he resides, while Karalar was detained in Istanbul. Tutdere announced his transfer to Istanbul on X. As part of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation into claims of organised crime, bribery, and bid-rigging, ten individuals—including Karalar and Tutdere—were taken into custody.
Prosecutors did not immediately disclose the specific allegations against them, but the operation comes after other officials from CHP-controlled towns were arrested in recent months. Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a leading opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule, was imprisoned four months ago on charges of corruption.
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