Three more mayors representing the opposition were arrested in Turkey

In Turkey, as part of the investigation of the case of corruption on Saturday, three more mayors were arrested, representing the opposition republican People’s Party (ChP). The arrests became the next step in the pressure campaign on the elected representatives of the ChP from the authorities after the party’s convincing victory in the municipal elections of 2024 and the rapid growth of its popularity - against the backdrop of the ranking of the ruling party of justice and development (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The investigation, which became the reason for new arrests, previously led to the removal of the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, one of the main political rivals of Erdogan and CHP candidate in the 2028 presidential election. His arrest in March caused mass protests throughout the country - the largest since 2013. At the beginning of the week, the police detained more than 120 people in Izmir, which traditionally supported the opposition.

Among the detainees on Saturday are the mayor of the Southern City of Adan Zeidan Karalare, the mayor of the resort Antalya Muhittin Buke and the mayor of the southeastern city of Adyyaman Abdurrahman Tutder. According to the Anadolu agency, the mayors of Adan and Adyyaman are held in the case, initiated by the prosecutor's office of Istanbul on the facts of alleged frauds during tenders and bribery. Buke, according to Birgün, was detained as part of a separate investigation initiated by the Antalya prosecutor's office. His son was arrested with him.

Opposition leaders condemned the actions of the authorities. The mayor of Ankara Mansur Javash said: "In a country where the law obeys political interests, and justice is applied selectively, it is impossible to talk about trust in justice." He emphasized that CHP representatives do not intend to put up with injustice and political pressure.

At the same time, in Ankara, the hearing on the alleged purchase of votes at the CHP party congress in 2023 continues, which can lead to the cancellation of the election of the current leader of the Losel Party, who received wide support after the protests in the spring.

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