In İzmir province, 120 people have been detained in an operation against the CHP-run municipality. The public prosecutor's office has issued arrest warrants for a total of 157 people.
In the western Turkish coastal city of Izmir, 120 people have been detained in an operation against the CHP-run municipality. According to the party executive committee, those detained included former mayor Tunç Soyer and CHP provincial chairman Şenol Aslanoğlu. According to reports, a total of 157 arrest warrants were issued as part of corruption investigations by the Izmir public prosecutor's office.
CHP deputy chairman Murat Bakan described the detentions as a “political” maneuver. Many of those detained were already under investigation, he said. “If they had been asked to give their statements, they would have done so.”
Bakan drew comparisons to the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu and numerous other CHP politicians. Until his arrest in March on alleged corruption charges, İmamoğlu was mayor of Istanbul and considered the most promising challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He has since been removed from office.
