Hasan Mutlu among dozens held in Istanbul raids, the latest move in wave of arrests targeting CHP mayors
Turkish authorities detained the mayor of an Istanbul district on Saturday, along with 47 officials, as part of a corruption investigation, continuing a crackdown on the country’s main opposition party.
Hasan Mutlu, mayor of Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa district, was taken into custody early Saturday on charges including bribery, embezzlement, fraud and bid rigging by the municipality, according to state broadcaster, TRT Haber.
The Istanbul police reportedly raided 72 locations, seizing documents and detaining Mutlu and several of his deputies.
Mutlu denied the allegations on X, writing: “I have served only Bayrampaşa and you, my esteemed fellow citizens … What has happened consists of political operations and baseless slanders.”
