Turkish police detained 22 Istanbul municipality employees on corruption charges on Tuesday, marking the latest step in a crackdown that began with the arrest of opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has tacitly accused İmamoğlu, his main political rival, and the Istanbul mayoralty of presiding over a “criminal organisation” in the city, calling it “a sprawling octopus with tentacles reaching” international business and intelligence agencies.
The latest detentions, which included the head of Istanbul’s press department, were made under the continuing anti-graft investigation into municipal tenders issued by the alleged “shadowy” network. Last week, Erdoğan called the probe “unprecedented”.
İmamoğlu’s arrest, which sparked mass protests and market panic, seems to have boosted the mayor’s popularity. Polls now suggest he would beat Erdoğan by several percentage points in an election.
The crackdown has also tainted a historic peace deal struck by the Kurdish PKK insurgency last week. Some Erdoğan critics suspect the corruption investigation is part of a government ruse to sideline the opposition and change the constitution with Kurdish support, to allow him to run again for the presidency.
Tuesday’s arrest warrants were issued by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office, state news agency Anadolu reported.
They followed the detention in late April of another 18 city employees for alleged corruption. In early May, İmamoğlu’s Turkish language account on X, which had almost 10mn followers, was blocked at the request of Turkish authorities.
“Those who know they will lose at the ballot box are using the law as an instrument of politics,” said Burhanettin Bulut, deputy head of the main CHP opposition party, of the arrests in a post on X.
Erdoğan’s international star is soaring despite the crackdown, thanks to Turkey’s rising clout as a key Nato ally and regional power.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte called Erdoğan an “amazing leader” last week, when Turkey hosted peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials. US President Donald Trump, who has a good rapport with Erdoğan, cited the Turkish president’s input in his decision to lift economic sanctions against Syria.
İmamoğlu has denied all charges, while his supporters accuse Erdoğan of politicising the judiciary. The government says the country’s judges are independent and nobody is above the law.
