Current, former mayors of CHP in Türkiye’s Buca detained for corruption

Buca district of western province of Izmir, a stronghold of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was rocked by an anti-corruption operation on Monday. Incumbent Mayor Görkem Duman and his predecessor Erhan Kılıç were detained, along with 51 other suspects.

Earlier, authorities have issued detention warrants for 62 suspects. A manhunt is underway to capture the other suspects. Along with mayors, three deputy mayors, the former chair of CHP’s Buca branch, municipal bureaucrats and 16 businesspeople were detained.

Chief Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that suspects were involved in a criminal ring utilizing the resources of the municipality to enrich themselves, were bribed by contractors, involved in irregularities in construction works, illicitly used credit cards, bank accounts belonging to the municipality for their personal expenses, assaulted people who posted stories about alleged wrongdoings in the municipality and paid “ghost employees.”

Authorities have conducted another anti-corruption operation against corruption in the municipality last February and arrested seven suspects. Last month, Mustafa Günay, another CHP mayor for Izmir’s Güzelbahçe district, was arrested and suspended from his office, on charges of corruption.

Duman was already under fire for vacationing in Thailand with his girlfriend while unpaid workers of the municipality went on a strike late last year.

The office said that based on surveillance by police, tip-offs to a public hotline and accounts of eyewitnesses, suspects attempted to hide the technical irregularities in construction projects through forged documents, arranged paperwork to give retrospective legitimacy to illegally built buildings, and laundered bribe money through construction companies and luxury properties.

Suspects are accused of approving additional floors to certain construction projects in Buca, violating construction laws. Some municipal bureaucrats among the suspects are accused of fast-tracking the approval process for problematic projects, possibly in exchange for bribes.

According to the statement, contractors among suspects supplied cash, flats and other benefits to municipal officials in return of turning a blind eye to irregularities.

Contractors allegedly sought to disguise bribes through various tactics and the cash flow involving the bribes was codenamed as “soap” by suspects.

Regarding the usage of municipal resources for personal expenses, prosecutors said some suspects withdrew cash from municipal coffers without offering any service in return and funds of municipal subsidiaries were allocated to cover the expenses for political events, from accommodation and catering to car rentals for said events.

Suspects are also accused of rigging tenders for acquisitions for the municipality, from vehicle rentals to the purchase of tires, garbage containers and event planning, and awarding lucrative contracts to certain companies, in exchange for bribes.

DAILYSABAH