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Nusret Yılmaz, a lawyer for Ekrem Imamoğlu, the former mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) arrested in March on corruption charges, was detained on Tuesday in Imamoğlu’s ancestral hometown of Trabzon.
Authorities said Yılmaz faces charges of “acting as intermediary for bribery.” His detention is part of a wider investigation into the alleged wrongdoings of a criminal network led by Imamoğlu, who is accused of widespread graft, ranging from regular bribes to rigging public tenders. In June, Mehmet Pehlivan, another lawyer for Imamoğlu, was detained on charges of being a member of the criminal network.
The mayor faces a wide array of accusations focusing on what prosecutors call “a criminal network” that he led. The network at the heart of the IBB reportedly took bribes from businesspeople in exchange for permits issued by the municipality. Some suspects who collaborated with authorities as part of a plea deal claimed Imamoğlu sought to fund his campaign for the presidency through bribes.
Although municipalities run by mmain opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were already under investigation and several mayors were detained for corruption last year, IBB has been under the spotlight as its high-profile mayor was arrested in March shortly before 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 businessman who was awarded lucrative contracts by district municipalities, investigators launched more 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 businessman who was apparently favored for municipal tenders he won through bribery. Aktaş’s confessions unveiled the scale of corruption at IBB and the municipality of Beşiktaş, whose mayor was detained last year. The investigation also extended to Adana, a southern province; the mayors of Adana’s Seyhan and Ceyhan municipalities were also detained.
