Turkish police carried out dawn raids in Izmir on Tuesday, detaining more than 120 city-hall officials and contractors as part of a corruption investigation into public tenders. Local prosecutors said they had issued 157 arrest warrants and allege that irregular contracts in construction, vehicle leasing and cooperative projects cost the municipality over 1.5 billion lira (about US$46 million). Among those held are former Izmir mayor Tunç Soyer, provincial Republican People’s Party (CHP) chair Şenol Aslanoğlu and İZSU water-utility chief Gürkan Erdoğan.
Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city and a longstanding CHP stronghold, is the second opposition-run metropolis to face sweeping arrests this year. In March a similar probe led to the detention and removal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2028 election cycle. CHP officials called Tuesday’s arrests a politically motivated "repeat of the Istanbul scenario," while the government insisted the judiciary is pursuing legitimate graft cases.
Hours after the Izmir operation, tens of thousands of people converged on Istanbul’s Saraçhane square to mark the 100th day of İmamoğlu’s incarceration. Addressing the crowd, CHP leader Özgür Özel accused the government of staging a “coup” against elected local administrations and vowed nationwide resistance. Police used tear gas to disperse smaller solidarity marches in Ankara, and rights groups reported several additional detentions.
The twin developments deepen Turkey’s political fissures as opposition victories in last year’s local elections continue to face legal challenges. Analysts warn that the escalating use of corruption probes against CHP-led municipalities could dominate the national agenda in the run-up to the next presidential race, even as Ankara maintains that anti-graft efforts will broaden to other cities.
