Police launched a new operation on the morning of 13 October as part of an investigation into CHP-run Etimesgut Municipality in Ankara. Detention orders were issued for 25 people, including Deputy Mayors Fikret Gözüoğlu and Gültekin Bayındır. In an earlier investigation into the municipality on allegations of “bid rigging,” “extortion by a public official” and “establishing a criminal organization,” 40 people, including Mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu, were arrested on 3 August. The Interior Ministry suspended Beşikçioğlu the same day. In March, the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had also launched an “embezzlement” investigation over irregularities identified in audits by the Court of Accounts in the accounts of the municipality and its subsidiary Etimkent A.Ş., and detained four people. Following the previous operation, Beşikçioğlu said the complaint that led to the investigation had been made by the municipality itself.
13 October 2026
bianet