ISTANBUL (BN24) — Turkish authorities have detained more than 500 of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political opponents over the past nine months in what officials describe as a sweeping anti-corruption probe, a Reuters review of court documents and state records shows.
The investigation, which Erdogan has likened to dismantling “an octopus whose arms stretch to other parts of Turkey and abroad,” has rapidly escalated in recent weeks and focuses exclusively on municipalities controlled by the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
The crackdown has seen 14 elected CHP mayors jailed pending trial—including Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s popular mayor and Erdogan’s chief rival—and more than 200 party members and officials swept up in the operation.
Erdogan and his government reject allegations that the probe is politically motivated, insisting courts are independently evaluating evidence of widespread corruption. But CHP leaders say the campaign is an unprecedented attempt to crush the country’s largest secular opposition and hobble it ahead of any future election.
“These investigations are being used as a tool for political attrition rather than the objective investigation of concrete events,” said Ertugrul Gunay, a former minister in Erdogan’s government who resigned after thousands were jailed during the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
While Erdogan has faced waves of criticism in Turkey and abroad over democratic backsliding, the latest crackdown has drawn only muted reaction from Western allies, even as street protests erupted in the spring.
At the heart of the case is Imamoglu, who was jailed in March on corruption charges he denies. His arrest, the most significant detention of an opposition politician in decades, prompted large demonstrations and a sharp sell-off of the Turkish lira.
According to the Reuters review, more than 500 people have been detained or questioned since the investigation began in Istanbul last October, including at least 202 in the past week alone. Over 220 have been either imprisoned or placed under house arrest, figures compiled from court filings and state-run Anadolu Agency reports show.
Erdogan has publicly defended the probe, telling lawmakers Wednesday, “This is a legal process, not a political one. We are not involved in any aspect of this process.”
But the investigation has drawn comparisons to Turkey’s past military coups, when high-profile politicians were removed from office under similarly sweeping accusations.
“Not since the coups of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s have so many political leaders been removed based on evidence that is still unpublished,” Gunay said.
Police documents reviewed by Reuters show the allegations against Imamoglu include claims he met associates to discuss bribe payments. Interrogators cited 150 instances when his phone connected to the same cell tower as theirs—a connection he dismissed, saying his home was near the café in question.
Prosecutors have not yet issued formal indictments.
Beyond Istanbul, the investigation has spread to other cities captured by the CHP in last year’s municipal elections, including Izmir, Antalya, Adana and Adiyaman—areas that delivered Erdogan’s ruling party its worst-ever local defeat.
Erdogan’s office and the Justice Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ questions on the figures or critics’ allegations that officials’ public statements about the investigation undermine judicial independence.
The CHP maintains that the corruption accusations are fabricated. Still, it announced it would review the conduct of one deputy mayor after state broadcaster TRT aired footage showing him allegedly taking bribes.
While Erdogan’s government insists the CHP is not being targeted selectively, Reuters found no evidence that similar probes have been launched in the 14 Istanbul districts governed by Erdogan’s AKP.
The arrests have fueled speculation about Erdogan’s intentions ahead of the next presidential vote, currently scheduled for 2028 but which could be brought forward if he seeks to extend his rule beyond Turkey’s two-term constitutional limit.
CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel denounced the wave of detentions as “a coup against Ataturk’s party” in a speech Sunday—a statement that itself has triggered a separate investigation for allegedly insulting the president.
Reuters
