A court in Istanbul is expected to deliver a verdict in a massive trial where a businessman is accused of collaborating with several opposition mayors in rampant tender corruption.
Aziz Ihsan Aktaş is at the heart of the trial. He was previously released under judicial control after collaborating with authorities and detailing how he paid off mayors and municipal bureaucrats to secure business with municipalities in Istanbul and elsewhere. The first hearing in the trial was held on Jan. 27, one year after Aktaş and several mayors from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were arrested on corruption charges.
A total of 200 defendants, including seven mayors, are on trial in the case. The next hearing will be held in a massive courtroom-prison complex in Istanbul’s Silivri district on Monday.
The initial operation of the investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was conducted on Jan. 13, 2025. As the process continued, numerous suspects were detained; while some were formally arrested, judicial control measures were applied to others.
In the prosecution's 579-page indictment, completed on Oct. 20, 2025, Beşiktaş Municipality, Avcılar Municipality, Esenyurt Municipality, and two subsidiaries of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) were named as "injured parties," and 19 individuals were listed as "victims." The indictment seeks multiple prison terms for Aktaş on charges of establishing a criminal organization, rigging public tenders, forging official documents, committing fraud to the detriment of public institutions, offering bribes, laundering crime-derived assets, and issuing fraudulent invoices.
