Fresh judicial action hit opposition-run municipalities on Oct. 1, the day parliament reopened. Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer, Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer were among 59 people detained.
In a statement, the Justice Ministry said inspections had found a total public loss of 330.9 million liras in 13 tenders and 63 direct procurements in Mersin. According to the statement, the alleged public loss stands at 1.01 billion liras at the Mezitli municipality and 105 million liras at the Yenişehir municipality.
Seçer also chairs the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB). He was elected to the post after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who had previously chaired it.
Seçer did not join the Yeni Party, founded by Özgür Özel and his team after they left the CHP. He remained in the CHP. Although he criticized the “absolute nullity” ruling that ousted Özel, he attended events led by CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
REACTIONS FROM CHP
Kılıçdaroğlu linked the detention to the fund scandal. He said the names of relatives of AKP deputy chairs, former ministers and figures close to the government appear in the files. 'On one side, immunity if you are from the government; on the other, detention in the dark of the morning if you are in the opposition. This is not called the rule of law. This is not called justice,' he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu added that it’s a survival problem for the country “because where there is no justice, the state cannot stand. In a country where law is applied according to person, party and surname, no one can feel safe.'
The CHP sent a delegation to Mersin to examine the matter on site. Party spokesperson Müslim Sarı said protective measures must be 'applied according to concrete grounds and the principles of necessity and proportionality.'
Sarı said, 'The scales of the law do not weigh everyone equally. There can be no law tailored to the person,' a reference to the favorable treatment of suspects in the stock exchange investigation.
Seçer's detention adds to a long list of legal and administrative actions against CHP municipalities since the March 31, 2024, local elections.
As of Aug. 25, five provincial mayors were under formal arrest, including İmamoğlu. Twenty-six district mayors were also under formal arrest, 12 of them in Istanbul.
Seven provincial mayors, including İmamoğlu, had been removed from office over the same period, along with 29 district mayors. If formally arrested, the three Mersin mayors would be added to the tally.
INDEPENDENT IZMIR MAYOR VISITS ERDOĞAN
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay, who resigned from the CHP in June, visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sept. 30. The meeting came days after Erdoğan received Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş for the first time in six years.
Erdoğan's office shared only a photograph of the two shaking hands, as it had after the Yavaş meeting.
'We briefed our esteemed president on important issues on Izmir's agenda and on our projects for the future of our city,' Tugay said.
Before meeting Erdoğan, Tugay met Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. 'We will continue the work that falls to us, within the responsibilities of the relevant institutions, to meet Izmir's transport and infrastructure needs,' Uraloğlu said.
Izmir is known as an opposition stronghold. Many of its major problems relate to transport. Tugay's meeting with Uraloğlu reinforces his stated agenda of 'projects for the future of our city.'
Since his resignation, there have been rumors that Tugay would join the AKP. He has never clearly denied them.
SHIFT IN ISTANBUL CONTINUES
The AKP's moves against opposition municipalities have not been limited to detentions and formal arrests. Shifts in council seats continue, especially in Istanbul.
The Üsküdar and Adalar municipalities passed to the AKP after their CHP mayors were arrested. Ataşehir, whose mayor Onursal Adıgüzel is under formal arrest, now appears to be next.
Six CHP members of the Ataşehir municipal council, Oğuz Sarul, Sinan Emrah Yıldırım, Fatih Evliyaoğlu, Abdullah Aslan, Cengiz Karayurt and Mehmet Alver, joined the AKP.
The Ataşehir council had 38 members, including Adıgüzel: 26 from the CHP, 10 from the AKP and two from the MHP. After the transfers, the CHP's seats fell to 20 and the AKP's rose to 16. The council arithmetic now stands at 20 for the CHP and 18 for the AKP and MHP alliance.
