Turkey’s wave of arrests in opposition-held municipalities sparks outrage

Turkey is grappling with a surge of arrests targeting officials and elected representatives of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), igniting fierce political and social backlash.

The crackdown, which began in spring 2025 and escalated in July, centers on CHP-controlled municipalities and is accompanied by allegations of corruption. The CHP, however, denounces the arrests as a politically motivated campaign to dismantle its influence, particularly in the wake of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention, which marked its 100th day on 1 July, and has fuelled widespread protests.

The most recent wave of arrests unfolded on 5 July, when authorities detained the CHP mayors of Adıyaman (Abdurrahman Tutdere), Adana (Zeydan Karalar), and Antalya (Muhittin Böcek), alongside the deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece district, Ahmet Şahin, as part of a sprawling corruption probe.

Earlier, on 1 and 2 July, a large-scale operation in Izmir led to the detention of 157 individuals, including former mayor Tunç Soyer and CHP provincial chair Şenol Aslanoğlu, on charges of bid rigging, fraud, and misconduct tied to the municipal company İZBETON’s contracts from 2021 to 2024.

Of those detained, 60 were placed in pre-trial detention, 58 were released on parole, and the remainder await further investigation. Since spring 2025, five major waves of arrests have resulted in 264 detentions and 121 pre-trial detentions across opposition-run municipalities, including Istanbul.

The arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and a prominent CHP figure widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief political rival, has cast a long shadow over these operations. Detained on 19 March, and jailed on 23 March pending trial on corruption and bribery charges, İmamoğlu’s case has triggered the largest street protests in Turkey since the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations.

His detention, which followed the revocation of his Istanbul University diploma on 18 March, is viewed by critics as a calculated move to neutralize the CHP’s presidential candidate for the 2028 elections.

CHP leader Özgür Özel, speaking after an emergency meeting of the party’s Central Executive Board on 5 July, framed the arrests as a “crossroads” in Turkey’s struggle between democracy and autocracy, urging judicial officials and politicians to uphold justice.

On 1 July tens of thousands rallied in Istanbul to mark the 100th day of his imprisonment, with 42 protesters detained amid clashes with police. The CHP and rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Stockholm Center for Freedom, have condemned the charges as politically driven, accusing Erdoğan’s government of weaponizing the judiciary to suppress dissent.

The Izmir Public Prosecutor’s Office claims its investigations stem from “specific and verifiable complaints” about irregularities in municipal contracts, including overpriced projects, bid rigging, and preferential treatment of contractors by İZBETON, which manages technical services for the municipality.

Similar allegations underpin the probes in Istanbul, Adana, Adıyaman, and Antalya, where authorities point to financial discrepancies and fraud. Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) insists the judiciary operates independently and that the arrests are part of a broader anti-corruption effort. The government has dismissed accusations of political targeting, with Erdoğan claiming that tips about corruption originated within the CHP itself.

The CHP, however, frames the crackdown as a deliberate assault on its electoral gains. Following the party’s sweeping victories in the March 2024 local elections, which saw it wrest control of major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adıyaman from the AKP, the opposition accuses Erdoğan of using judicial pressure to reverse these losses.

CHP lawmaker Murat Bakan called the Izmir operation an “extension of the arrests in Istanbul,” aimed at undermining opposition-led local governments. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, also a CHP member, criticised the selective scrutiny of opposition municipalities, noting that AKP-controlled cities face no similar investigations. He argued that “pre-trial detention cannot substitute for political accountability” and urged respect for municipal institutions.

The pro-Kurdish DEM Party labelled the arrests a “threat to social peace and democratic rights,” echoing concerns about eroding democratic norms.

The timing and scale of the crackdown have raised alarms among independent analysts and international observers, who see a pattern of selective law enforcement aimed at weakening political competition.

The crackdown has sparked mass demonstrations in Istanbul and Izmir, with labour unions, municipalities, and professional organizations issuing protest resolutions. The unrest has also rattled financial markets, with the Turkish lira experiencing a slight decline against the dollar, which analysts attribute to heightened political instability.

Edited by g.g.

Caption: People hold pictures of Ekrem Imamoglu as they take part in a rally organized by the country’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) against the suspension and imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in front of the Istanbul Municipality in Istanbul, Turkey, 1 July 2025. Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, was jailed and dismissed by the Turkish Ministry of Interior on 23 March on corruption charges, following his detention on 19 March along with 100 others. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN