Menderes Deputy Mayor Rüzgar Sönmez, who was wanted as part of an investigation by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into Menderes Municipality, was detained. Gendarmerie teams apprehended Sönmez in an operation carried out with support from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and police intelligence. Suspects in the investigation were accused of “bribery,” “extortion,” “forming a criminal organization,” “forgery of official documents,” “misconduct in office” and “causing zoning pollution.” Thirteen people, including Mayor İlkay Çiçek, municipal council members and municipal employees, had been detained in an operation the previous day. Sönmez’s detention raised the number of detainees to 14.
5 August 2026
Cumhuriyet