Turkish authorities have detained more than 500 members and officials of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) since October 2024 in an intensifying crackdown that has exclusively targeted municipalities held by the secularist party, according to a Reuters review of legal filings and state disclosures published on Thursday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the campaign as an effort to dismantle a corrupt “octopus” network with arms stretching “to other parts of Turkiye and abroad.”
His office has not responded to requests for comment on accusations of political interference or selective prosecution.
The probe initially focused on Istanbul but has since spread to CHP-run cities including Izmir, Adana, Antalya, and Adiyaman – territories seized from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in last year’s municipal elections.
More than 220 individuals have been imprisoned or placed under house arrest, with 202 detained in the past week alone.
Among those jailed is Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and Erdogan’s leading political rival, who was arrested in March on corruption charges he denies.
A 121-page police transcript reviewed by Reuters alleges that Imamoglu’s phone repeatedly connected to the same cell tower as individuals accused of bribery, to which he responded that his home was located nearby. Prosecutors have yet to issue indictments.
Lawyers and party officials say the arrests lack a legal foundation. Mehmet Pehlivan, Imamoglu’s lawyer, who was also jailed, said the probe attempts “for the first time to criminalize the right to practice law.”
Former AKP minister Ertugrul Gunay described the campaign as a “tool for political attrition,” warning it reflects panic within Erdogan’s camp over future elections. CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel called it “a coup against Ataturk’s party,” prompting a separate investigation against him for allegedly insulting the president.
Three CHP mayors – Zeydan Karalar of Adana, Muhittin Bocek of Antalya, and Abdurrahman Tutdere of Adiyaman – were arrested on 5 July in what the party described as a “political operation.” Their arrests followed the detention of over 120 individuals in Izmir.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas responded on X, saying, “In a system where the law is bent and twisted according to politics … no one should expect us to trust the rule of law or believe in justice.”
