Turkey convicts five opposition mayors in corruption trial; one sentenced to 23 years and three months

Turkish judges handed down prison terms to five mayors from the main opposition party today in a sprawling corruption case, drawing sharp criticism from opponents who say the prosecutions are politically motivated.

The Istanbul trial included charges of bribery, rigging municipal tenders and fraud in the awarding of city contracts. Prosecutors relied in part on anonymous witnesses and on defendants who testified against colleagues in exchange for lighter sentences, according to court testimony.

Background and accusations

The indictment alleges that companies controlled by businessman Aziz Ihsan Aktash received municipal contracts through bribery, bid manipulation and fraud. Aktash was arrested in Istanbul in January last year; following his detention authorities opened investigations into several other Istanbul municipalities led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The most severe sentence was imposed on Riza Akpolat, the mayor of the Besiktas district of Istanbul: he was sent to prison for 23 years and three months on counts of accepting bribes, money laundering and tender rigging. Four other opposition mayors received terms ranging from five to eight years. All were removed from office after their arrests.

Defence teams and opposition figures have argued the probes have been one‑sided, noting that municipalities governed by parties allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said to have worked with Aktash were not subject to comparable scrutiny. Many defendants denied knowing Aktash and accused him of giving false testimony; several of the anonymous witnesses acknowledged their accounts were based on information heard from others.

The Turkish government maintains that the judiciary operates independently and without political interference. In court, Akpolat said investigators offered to drop charges if he agreed to testify in a separate probe into the CHP’s 2023 congress. That related investigation led in May to a court decision removing the party’s leadership amid allegations of irregularities in the internal election process.

Observers note the verdicts come amid a wider pattern of legal action against opposition figures: CHP won major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara in the 2019 local elections and further municipalities in 2024, and since then a series of criminal cases has targeted party officials. Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor and the opposition’s leading potential challenger to Erdogan, has been detained since March last year and faces multiple prosecutions, including corruption charges linked to the metropolitan administration; in the main case prosecutors say convictions could, in aggregate, carry sentences that total thousands of years.

Photo: ilustracija / EPA/EFE