Turkey detains three more opposition mayors in crackdown

ANKARA: Turkish authorities on Saturday detained three more mayors from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), further escalating a sweeping crackdown that has increasingly targeted local governments controlled by the opposition.

According to a statement from the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office, the mayors of the southern cities of Adana and Adiyaman were taken into custody on allegations of extortion and abuse of office, alongside eight other municipal officials. The third detained mayor is reportedly from a district in eastern Turkey, though their identity has not been officially confirmed.

State media broadcast images of police raids on municipal buildings early Saturday, while pro-government outlets claimed the investigations were prompted by citizen complaints and undercover sting operations.

The CHP, Turkey’s largest opposition party, denounced the detentions as politically motivated, accusing President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party of using the judiciary to neutralize its electoral rivals.

“This is not a legal process—it is an open intervention against the will of millions who voted for change,” CHP spokesperson Eren Yilmaz said at a press conference in Ankara. “The government is trying to retake at the police station what it lost at the ballot box.”

The crackdown on opposition-held municipalities began in earnest after the CHP’s landmark victory in Istanbul’s 2019 mayoral race, which dealt Erdogan’s party a rare and symbolic defeat. Since then, dozens of opposition mayors, especially in Kurdish-majority southeastern provinces, have been removed from office and replaced with government-appointed trustees.

Human rights groups have warned that the growing wave of arrests is part of an alarming erosion of local democracy in Turkey. The government insists the operations are part of its fight against corruption and terrorism.

International observers have called for transparency in the legal proceedings and urged respect for democratic institutions. The European Union has previously criticized Turkey’s replacement of elected mayors with appointed trustees, calling it incompatible with democratic norms.

As of Saturday evening, no formal indictments had been announced, but the prosecutor’s office said investigations were continuing. CHP officials vowed nationwide protests if their mayors are formally charged or removed from office.