ISTANBUL (AP) — Three opposition mayors in southern Turkey were arrested on Saturday, marking the latest escalation in what critics describe as a politically motivated crackdown on the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Those detained include:
Abdurrahman Tutdere, mayor of Adiyaman,
Zeydan Karalar, mayor of Adana,
Muhittin Bocek, mayor of Antalya.
All three are senior members of the CHP, the country’s main opposition party.
According to Anadolu Agency, Tutdere and Karalar were detained early Saturday morning in separate raids—Tutdere in Ankara, where he resides, and Karalar in Istanbul. Tutdere posted on social media that he was being transported to Istanbul for questioning.
The arrests are part of a broader organized crime, bribery, and bid-rigging investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has so far resulted in the detention of 10 individuals, including the two mayors.
Meanwhile, Antalya mayor Muhittin Bocek was arrested in a separate bribery probe initiated by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Two others were also detained in that investigation.
Details about the specific charges have not been made public, but the detentions follow a growing pattern of legal actions targeting CHP-controlled municipalities.
Just days earlier, former Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer and over 130 municipal officials were detained in a separate tender-rigging probe. On Friday, Soyer and 59 others were jailed pending trial—an action his lawyer called “unjust and politically driven.”
Also on Friday, the CHP mayor of Manavgat and 34 others were arrested on corruption allegations, according to state-run media.
The crackdown comes months after the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most prominent political rival. Imamoglu’s jailing led to Turkey’s largest protests in over a decade and cemented his status as the CHP’s presidential candidate.
Observers say the government’s legal campaign appears aimed at weakening the CHP, which made major gains in local elections last year—flipping cities like Adiyaman, long considered strongholds of Erdogan’s ruling party.
While the government maintains that the judiciary is independent, critics argue that the arrests are timed to stifle political opposition ahead of the next general election, currently scheduled for 2028, though speculation persists it may happen sooner.
