Turkish Police Detain 29 in Istanbul Municipality Corruption Probe

Turkish police detained 29 people in connection with an ongoing investigation into corruption in Istanbul municipality operations. The detentions are connected to the broader probe targeting Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his administration, which resulted in İmamoğlu's arrest in March 2025 and the ongoing mass trial of 413 defendants that began March 9, 2026. The new wave of detentions signals that Turkish prosecutors continue to expand the scope of the investigation rather than narrow it, despite international criticism that the case is politically motivated. Opposition CHP officials characterized the detentions as continued 'judicial persecution' of the Istanbul municipality — the only major metropolitan government controlled by the opposition. The CHP has been running the municipality under an Erdoğan-appointed trustee since İmamoğlu's detention, pending the outcome of his trial.