ISTANBUL — Turkish prosecutors have issued detention orders for 36 individuals, among them the mayor of an Ankara district controlled by the country’s main opposition party, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged bribery and manipulation of government contracts, the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office announced Saturday.
Of the 36 people named in the orders, 27 have already been taken into custody. Authorities are still actively searching for the remaining suspects, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
Huseyin Can Guner, the mayor of Ankara’s Cankaya district and a member of the Republican People’s Party — commonly referred to as the CHP — addressed the situation in a post on X. He said he had voluntarily informed authorities of his location and even left a spare key to his home so officers could carry out a search while he made his way back to Ankara.
“Since taking office, we have managed this institution in the best possible way and have not engaged in the slightest conduct that would embarrass anyone who has placed their trust in us,” Guner wrote.
The latest action is part of a broader pattern of legal investigations targeting municipalities run by the CHP. The Turkish government maintains that its judicial system operates independently. The CHP, however, has pushed back against the allegations, characterizing the investigations as politically driven rather than based on genuine legal concerns.
