Analysis
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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.
Turkish prosecutors have detained nine more people, including journalist Selahattin Günday, as part of a reopened investigation into the 2011 prison death of former National Intelligence Organization (MİT) official Kaşif Kozinoğlu.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said a supplementary indictment is being prepared in the Istanbul Municipality corruption case, as the court’s agenda shifted from hearing detained defendants to hearing those on trial who are not in detention.
Thirteen more Istanbul Municipality staff were detained on Sept. 3, as prosecutors widened their operation against the metropolitan authority.
Rapper Erol Can Güncü, known by his stage name UZ4Y, was detained on stage while performing in İzmir's Çeşme district and later formally arrested over his lyrics.
In a surprising development, police have detained prominent pro-government journalist Cem Küçük in Istanbul, soon after he parted ways with İhlas Media Group.
Turkish authorities detained popular comedian Deniz Göktaş, 32, at an Istanbul airport following an intense wave of public targeting from pro-government figures over his viral stand-up special.
More than 200 people were detained in police raids ahead of the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara. Following the sweeping operations launched by the Ankara police on June 23, courts have already ordered the formal arrest of 103 individuals out of 129 referred to the judiciary.
The top business association, TÜSİAD, urged the government to focus on development over mere economic growth. The meeting of the group’s High Advisory Council saw Chair Ömer Aras, who was detained last year after criticism over democracy and the rule of law, carefully avoid those topics this time around.
Mehmet Pehlivan, the detained lawyer for jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, drew parallels between their cases and political trials in Brazil in testimony that electrified a courtroom packed with lawyers in Silivri.
The financial crimes police raided Şile Municipality on July 10, detaining Mayor Özgür Kabadayı as part of the widening corruption investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities. It was yet another ordinary day for the main opposition, which has been facing near-daily legal turmoil since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on March 19. CHP Istanbul Chair Özgür Çelik said Kabadayı and several others were detained in house raids at 1:30 a.m. Arrest warrants were issued for at least six individuals, said the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the detained Istanbul mayor and the CHP's presidential candidate, shuttled between two courtrooms at the Silivri complex — and both hearings produced developments that cut against the prosecution's narrative.