ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 48 suspects, including the mayor of Istanbul’s opposition-run Bayrampasa district, as part of a corruption investigation, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Saturday.
The police carried out early morning raids at 72 locations to seize documents and detain suspects on charges including embezzlement, bribery, and tender rigging, according to TRT Haber.
In a post on X, Bayrampasa Mayor Hasan Mutlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he had nothing to hide and called the investigation “a political operation based on unfounded slander”.
The detentions come amidst a nearly year-long crackdown on the CHP and CHP-run municipalities, in which hundreds of party members have been arrested and jailed.
A court ruling due on Monday could remove the leader of the CHP in a case widely seen as a test of the country’s fragile balance between democratic institutions and centralised power, increasing the legal pressure on the party.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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