Over 20 detained in Istanbul as police crack down on municipal corruption

Turkish police detained 22 suspects on Tuesday in the second round of operations on corruption allegations at the municipality of Istanbul’s Şile district.

Şile’s mayor Özgür Kabadayı was arrested along with four others last July on charges of running a criminal gang, bribery and tender rigging.

Tuesday’s operations netted suspects accused of similar corruption charges based on unusual financial transactions between them.

Turkish media outlets have earlier reported that several eyewitnesses told investigators that the mayor took bribes from businesspeople for building permits. Other suspects arrested along with Kabadayı are municipal bureaucrats.