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In rare remarks to Turkish media, Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek said an investigation into graft in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) was “the biggest corruption case of the century.”
Gürlek was speaking at a major Istanbul courthouse where his offices are located, on the occasion of the beginning of a new “judiciary year” that marks the resumption of major trials after a summer recess. Gürlek will have plenty to tackle for the rest of the year amid multiple investigations and cases against disgraced Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. Charges filed by Gürlek’s office accuse the mayor of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of leading a criminal network thriving on bribes.
The chief prosecutor defended the case that the CHP accused as being based solely on accounts of eyewitnesses. “We have no one in detention solely based on accounts of witnesses. If you can prove this is the case, they can be released today. We are working very sensitively on this case,” Gürlek assured. He pointed to the evidence implicating the defendants and dubbed it “the biggest corruption case of the century.” He said the staff working on the case did not take days off during the summer recess. “Everyone is aware of their responsibilities. We have started drafting the indictment,” he said. Since his arrest in March on corruption charges, Imamoğlu has appeared at multiple hearings related to other cases in which he was implicated, including a case where he allegedly threatened Gürlek. The main trial on corruption charges has not been scheduled yet.
Gürlek provided an example of loans acquired by the municipality between 2019 and 2024, totaling over $5 billion, which were channeled to various companies, while loans for metro projects were suspended.
Regarding demands by the CHP and Imamoğlu for the live broadcast of hearings, Gürlek stated that the hearings are public and broadcasts can be made available if higher authorities approve. “We are confident that we have a solid case here,” Gürlek said, giving his personal approval for live broadcast.
The top prosecutor also denied allegations of pressure on defendants who invoked a remorse law in exchange for lenient sentences and spoke out against other defendants. “All testimonies are recorded in the presence of lawyers. We never force anyone (into confession). On the contrary, they exert pressure on those seeking to collaborate. For instance, when Ertan Yıldız (one of the key suspects in the case) agreed to collaborate, they sent 37 lawyers to the prison where he was held within three days,” he said. Gürlek did not name who exerted pressure on collaborators.
He also said that Murat Kapki, one of the suspects in the case, “somehow found out the first operation (to apprehend the suspects) beforehand and started transferring his assets.” “We found out that he transferred eight properties under his name to someone else in one day and these include valuable real estate and vehicles. When we found out, we ordered seizure of the assets,” he said.
Gürlek’s track record in corruption investigations targeting municipalities run by CHP has bothered the party, which often targets the chief prosecutor. Imamoğlu himself was already sentenced for threatening Gürlek in a case prior to his arrest for corruption. The party’s chair Özgür Özel also recently hurled thinly veiled threats against Gürlek in a CHP rally, prompting an investigation by prosecutors in Ankara against the CHP leader. On Monday, police detained two suspects with criminal records after they were observed engaging in suspicious behavior outside Gürlek’s house and inquired about Gürlek’s whereabouts to the guards.
Although municipalities run by the main opposition CHP were already under investigation and several mayors had been detained for corruption last year, the IBB has been under the spotlight, as its high-profile mayor was arrested in March, shortly before the CHP announced him as a future presidential candidate.
Digging deeper into an alleged criminal network run by Imamoğlu and expanding another investigation linked to a businessperson whom the district municipalities had awarded lucrative contracts, investigators launched further operations, rounding up municipal bureaucrats and other mayors.
Operations were the culmination of four separate investigations and are mainly based on the confessions of Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, a businessperson who was apparently favored for municipal tenders he won through bribery.
According to case files, Aktaş’s testimony directly led to warrants for 47 individuals, including senior IBB staff and five CHP district mayors. Twenty-two suspects, including five mayors, remain in custody.
Court filings accuse Aktaş of establishing and leading a criminal organization, engaging in bribery, rigging tenders and contracts, and laundering illicit assets. Investigators seized the assets of companies linked to him and placed injunctions on his business holdings.
Although Aktaş initially denied the allegations, he later provided detailed confessions on April 30 and May 11, reportedly exposing how municipal tenders were manipulated through a network of bribes and coercion.
His testimony has since become the foundation for multiple operations against CHP-controlled districts, including the arrests of Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat and Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer.
Aktaş was freed from house arrest last month after cooperating with investigators under Türkiye’s effective remorse provisions.
