A court in Istanbul has ordered 39 people held in custody pending trial in an investigation into alleged bid rigging and extortion at Bakırköy Municipality, among them five deputy mayors, the Demirören News Agency (DHA) and İhlas News Agency (İHA) reported on Saturday.
Bakırköy is a district on the European side of Istanbul, on the Sea of Marmara coast, and one of the city’s 39 district municipalities, which run local services such as zoning, business licences and municipal procurement.
Tenders and business permits under scrutiny
The investigation is being run by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to DHA, prosecutors are examining alleged criminal irregularities in the municipality’s tender files for the purchase of goods and services, which they say caused a loss to the public purse.
The probe followed tips alleging that business owners applying for opening and work permits were unlawfully asked for money, and that the permit process was held up for those who did not pay, DHA said. The suspects face accusations of bid rigging (ihaleye fesat karıştırma) and extortion by a public official (irtikap).
63 detained, 39 jailed
Detention orders were issued for 76 people, and 63 were taken into custody in operations by the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command’s anti-smuggling and organised crime branch, DHA reported. Those detained included five deputy mayors, two municipal council members and several department heads.
After questioning, a criminal judgeship of peace ordered 39 suspects arrested, including all five deputy mayors. Eighteen suspects were released under judicial control measures and six others were released after giving statements to prosecutors, according to the agencies.
The investigation is continuing, DHA said.
Part of a wider series
The case is the latest in a series of investigations into municipalities in Türkiye’s big cities. In Ankara, prosecutors recently detained 25 people, including two deputy mayors, in an investigation into Etimesgut Municipality, while in Istanbul Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was released to house arrest in a permit bribery probe. For background on the city and its districts, see our guide to living in Istanbul.
Sources
- Bakırköy Belediyesi soruşturması: 39 kişi tutuklandı (DHA via BirGün)
- Bakırköy Belediyesine Yolsuzluk Soruşturması: 39 Tutuklama (DHA via Memurlar.Net)
- Bakırköy ihale soruşturmasında 39 şüpheli tutuklandı, 18 kişiye adli kontrol verildi (İHA via Haberler.com)
Photo: Historianengineer / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
