An Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace has ordered the arrest of Cafer Mahiroğlu, chief executive of opposition-aligned broadcaster Halk TV, as part of a widening corruption probe targeting several Republican People’s Party (CHP)–run municipalities, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Mahiroğlu, who is currently abroad, was involved in bid-rigging related to public tenders. The accusations arise from testimony collected in an investigation into businessman Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who is suspected of running a criminal network engaged in public-procurement fraud, bribery, money laundering and tax offences.
Responding on social-media platform X, Mahiroğlu rejected the charges, describing them as “fabricated lies and slanders” from someone he has “never known or met,” and suggested the warrant was retaliation for Halk TV’s critical coverage of the government.
The corruption inquiry began in October 2024 with the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer and has since expanded to include several CHP-controlled municipalities. Dozens of figures—including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, declared the CHP’s presidential candidate on 23 March, the day of his arrest—have been detained on separate but related financial-crime allegations.
The latest wave of arrests follows the CHP’s decisive victory in the March 2024 local elections, where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost major cities it had governed for years. Opposition leaders and rights groups accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government of using the judiciary to undermine political rivals.
