FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
"We will not let them manipulate the ballot box or create an uncontested competition. Together, we will erase them from Turkey's history and send them home."
The mayor of one of Turkey's opposition strongholds was arrested on Monday as part of an investigation into bid rigging, prosecutors in Istanbul said.
Riza Akpolat, who heads the Besiktas municipality on the European side of the city, was arrested at his summer home in Edremit on Turkey's west coast, the DHA news agency reported.
Besiktas has long been under the control of the opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP.
"A criminal organization organized the tender processes by bribing the mayor and senior municipal officials, ensuring that their companies were awarded the tenders," the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
But CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel described the arrest as "a new link in the chain of lawlessness in the politicized justice system" and vowed to stand by Akpolat.
CHP Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said the morning raid on Akpolat's home was part of an attempt to influence public opinion.
“The procedure of those who have no legal intent cannot be legal,” he said.
The prosecutor's office said a three-month investigation led to arrest warrants for 47 people, including Akpolat and Ahmet Ozer, the mayor of Istanbul's Esenyurt district, a CHP representative.
The tender rigging scheme was allegedly led by a man named Aziz Ihsan Aktas, prosecutors said. He and 24 other suspects were detained on charges of creating and leading a criminal organization, membership in a criminal organization, bribery, bid rigging, tax law violations and money laundering.
Warnings from the opposition
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel reacted harshly to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration during a protest on the evening of January 13.
The CHP organized a 'democracy vigil' outside the Beşiktaş Municipality building to protest against Akpolat's arrest.
Joining the crowd, Imamoglu and Ozel delivered speeches condemning the arrest, while accusing the government of politically motivated actions against opposition figures.
Imamoglu declared the CHP's intention to resist these actions, saying that "we will give a political response to political attacks. We will not let them manipulate the ballot box or create an uncontested competition. Together, we will erase them from Turkey's history and send them home."
He criticized the legal standards applied in this case, questioning whether similar scrutiny would be directed at the tender processes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Ozel claims wider targeting of the opposition
CHP leader Özel supported Imamoglu's statements, framing the arrests as part of a broader strategy to undermine opposition-controlled municipalities. He argued that Akpolat's arrest reflected a pattern of politically driven judicial actions, accusing the Erdogan administration of protecting allies while targeting critics.
Ozel also suggested that the ultimate target of these actions was Imamoglu himself. “If they think they can overthrow Ekrem Imamoglu, whom they have never defeated in his political career, they are sorely mistaken. This will not be easy,” Ozel added. / Adapt Pamphlet /
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