New operation against CHP municipalities: Abdurrahman Tutdere, Zeydan Karalar and Muhittin Böcek detained
A new wave of detentions was launched in CHP municipalities. Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere, Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar and Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek were detained.
Following the investigation launched against Izmir and Antalya-Manavgat Municipalities, a new wave of operations was added to the wave against CHP municipalities.
According to DHA, a detention order was issued this morning for Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere and Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar as part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
According to the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Muhittin Böcek was also detained as part of a bribery investigation. Böcek's ex-daughter-in-law Zeynep Kerimoğlu was also detained, while his son Mustafa Gökhan Böcek, for whom there was a detention order, was found to be abroad.
Abdurrahman Tutdere wrote in a statement on his social media account , “I was detained from my home in Ankara this morning. I am being taken to Istanbul.” Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar also said in a video he shot before being detained, “This is a process, rest assured. We will continue the fight.”
In a statement made by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Zeydan Karalar and Abdurrahman Tutdere are accused of receiving unfair financial benefits from company executives who did business with the municipality.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced that Büyükçekmece Deputy Mayor Ahmet Şahin and his driver, lawyer Onur Büyükhatipoğlu, Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar, Seyhan Municipality Cleaning Services Manager Özcan Zenger, who served during Karalar's term as Seyhan Mayor, Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere and Deputy Mayor Ceyhan Kayhan were detained within the scope of investigations into CHP municipalities.
According to Medyascope reporter Ferit Binzet, Adıyaman Municipality Building has been closed by the police. The municipality building is being searched by the police. CHP administrators in Adıyaman have also started to gather in front of the municipality.
In the investigation into the “Aziz İhsan Aktaş crime organization,” detention warrants were issued for 15 people, including the Mayor of Adana Metropolitan Municipality and the Mayor of Adıyaman. Aktaş was released on June 4, benefiting from “effective repentance.”
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş stated that the mayors were detained due to Aziz İhsan Aktaş's slanders and asked, "If Aziz İhsan Aktaş distributed money to everyone, will this dirty scheme only target opposition mayors? Where are the AK Party members who were given money? Why is the same determination not shown for them?"
CHP Deputy Chairman Gökhan Günaydın reacted to the detention of Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar and Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere, saying, "You cannot and will not be able to take a nation into submission like this."
CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut said, “This mentality, which takes refuge in the corridors of courthouses when it cannot win at the ballot box and uses the judiciary as a means of revenge, does not fit into law, democracy or the conscience of our nation.”
Deputy Chairman of the Group Murat Emir said, “There is a process that is being carried out through slanders, the claims of slanderers, and detentions. Let’s detain 30, 40, 50 people, if we catch a crime, let’s put them back in prison and wait for them to confess or let’s make them slander by threatening them. Unfortunately, this is what has been carried out so far. We do not accept this. We demand the right to an independent and fair trial for everyone.”
CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik said, “Those who have no chance of being elected again have set their eyes on the right to vote of 86 million citizens of the Republic of Turkey and have massacred the law.”
CHP Deputy Chair Gül Çiftci reacted to the detention of the Mayors of Manavgat, Adıyaman, Adana, Antalya Metropolitan Municipalities, and the Deputy Mayor of Büyükçekmece, saying, “Those who could not leave the ballot box are ambushing the right to vote. Those who turned the state into a mafia are now trying to crush the will of the people. But they will not succeed.”
Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer reacted to the operation by saying, “If the operations are only directed at CHP municipalities, there is no law, but a political calculation. While the government municipalities are not touched, the scales of justice have already been disrupted. Our democracy is under serious threat. The will of the people, the presumption of innocence, the rule of law and the culture of living together are being irreparably damaged. A return to democracy and law should be made from these unbecoming decisions as soon as possible.”
The DEM Party Central Executive Board (MYK) evaluated the detention of CHP mayors as "a new step of the government continuing to mobilize all its instruments, especially the judicial mechanism, to suppress the opposition."
The MYK statement said, “The constant threat to the right to vote and be elected targets not only political parties but also Türkiye’s hope for social peace and democratic solutions. By deepening the lawlessness, the greatest harm is done to the hope for social peace. We stand against any intervention against the will of the people and call on all segments of society to join in the common struggle.”
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