A second wave of detentions in an investigation on corruption at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) on Saturday may deepen the probe focused on former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. Imamoğlu and dozens of others were detained and subsequently arrested last month on charges of corruption. In Saturday’s operation based in Istanbul, police detained 51 suspects, including top bureaucrats of IBB.
A search of suspects’ residences and offices found a large cache of cash and gold, along with munitions. Media reports say they may serve as evidence as investigators dig further into the network of corruption allegedly led by Imamoğlu. Two suspects wanted in Saturday’s operations remain at large.
Among the detained suspects are Turan Aydoğan, Istanbul lawmaker from Imamoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), Şafak Başa, head of Istanbul’s water utility, Arif Gürkan Alpay, deputy secretary-general of IBB and other senior officials of the municipality. Other prominent names in detention include Gözdem Ongun, wife of Imamoğlu’s adviser Murat Ongun, who was arrested in March, and Cevat Kaya, brother of Imamoğlu’s wife. Çağlar Türkmen, a bodyguard for the former mayor who was caught on camera while shutting down security cameras during a secretive 2024 meeting of Imamoğlu and other IBB officials at a hotel, was also detained.
Search of the coffers of Rasim Kaya, a businessperson who was among the detainees, found a large amount of cash whose source is unknown, while another search at a medical clinic in Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul, whose owner was also detained, led to the discovery of 15,000 pieces of munitions. A search of the same clinic also found seemingly official seals for a variety of companies without any link to the clinic. Authorities investigate whether those seals belong to front companies used to launder money earned by the Imamoğlu-led criminal network.
According to investigators, Gözdem Ongun used her private company for the flow of bribes to the network. Muhittin Palazoğlu, one of the suspects who was detained last month alongside Imamoğlu, told investigators that he was forced to deliver TL 600,000 to the company when Emrah Bağdatlı, a fugitive suspect in the case, threatened him and his brother. Investigators found that Ongun’s company, although seemingly not linked to the municipality, had money flow from advertising companies that won contracts from IBB, raising suspicions. A report in the Sabah newspaper says Murat Ongun used his wife’s company and utilized the services of Bağdatlı to ensure that bribes in return for awarding tenders would be transferred to his wife’s company. Cevat Kaya, brother-in-law of Ekrem Imamoğlu, is accused of hiding cash acquired by the criminal network.
Allegations against Turan Aydoğan involve bribery in return for a cover-up. Hüseyin Aydın, an eyewitness, told investigators that KIPTAŞ, a real estate company of IBB, filed a lawsuit for the evacuation of a property owned by Necmettin Şimşek, after Imamoğlu took office in 2019. A court approved the evacuation on the grounds that the property’s use violated its original purpose of use in 2024. Şimşek contacted Aydın for help and Aydın, in turn, contacted Aydoğan, who is known for his close ties to Imamoğlu. Aydın claimed that Aydoğan asked them for $500,000 for the municipality to halt the evacuation, and they personally delivered $200,000 to Aydoğan initially.
Şafak Başa, head of the Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration (ISKI), and his two aides are accused of seeking bribes. Two people undertaking a water rehabilitation project claimed Başa and other suspects asked them for bribes for approval of the project, media outlets reported.
The CHP has launched rallies and incited riots after Imamoğlu’s arrest. It claims that Imamoğlu’s arrest is politically motivated, as the party had nominated him for the next presidential election. However, the government argues that the CHP’s claim and pro-Imamoğlu rallies are simply an attempt to cover up the mayor’s alleged wrongdoings, which range from rigging public tenders to taking bribes.
On Friday, security camera footage emerged in the Turkish media, showing the bodyguards of Imamoğlu disabling security cameras ahead of a meeting with several suspects.
The footage, released as part of the probe, reportedly shows Imamoğlu’s security detail arriving at the hotel before his meeting with suspects Tuncay Yılmaz, Ertan Yıldız, Adem Soytekin, Fatih Keleş and Hüseyin Köksal, and turning off the cameras in the designated meeting area. The same footage also showed two heavy suitcases being brought to the suspect by another suspect who is seen leaving the hotel after the meeting. Özgür Çelik, head of the CHP’s Istanbul branch, said the suitcases contained “jammers” and it was standard practice for the protection of Imamoğlu, “who is threatened by a terrorist group.” Similarly, IBB claimed in a social media post that turning off the cameras at the premises was for the “privacy and protection” of Imamoğlu.
Ahmet Büyükgümüş, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said in a social media post on Sunday that they were curious about the secrecy of the meeting. “What were you hiding?” he wrote. “Those (accused) of giving free rein to foreign companies for access to the data of 16 million people in Istanbul claim they were trying to protect personal data. They claim jammers were against a terror threat. If you have such fears, you should be more transparent. You are not afraid of terrorism, you are afraid of being caught red-handed,” Büyükgümüş said.
Politically motivated
The CHP insisted that political motivations were behind the new wave of detentions and claimed it was an attempt to stifle opposition to the government’s Kanal Istanbul project, a new canal to the west of the city. However, media reports exposed that IBB targeted a housing project instead in Arnavutköy, an Istanbul district where the planned canal will supposedly stretch to. The municipality’s ISKI first threatened to cut off water to the project and then to demolish the project undertaken by the government’s housing authority, TOKI.
The project in Arnavutköy was openly targeted by CHP leader Özgür Özel in a recent speech, who claimed it was linked to the Kanal Istanbul project and would be “sold to rich Arabs.” The government denied the allegations and proved that the project was indeed part of a nationwide housing campaign for low-income families. TOKI has plans for more than 28,000 apartment flats in the working-class district.
Arnavutköy Mayor Mustafa Candaroglu criticized IBB’s attempt to demolish the project as “politically motivated.” He told reporters on Saturday that the area allocated for the project was not under the jurisdiction of ISKI, which controls water-rich areas across the city. Candaroglu said the construction of the majority of houses was completed, but IBB tried to thwart it. He said low-income families suffered from IBB’s deliberate delays in providing water and sewage infrastructure for the project.