Three Turkish mayors have been arrested as part of what some say is a crackdown on political opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. File Photo by the Turkish Presidential Press Office/EPA-EFE
Three Turkish mayors who are members of a political party that opposes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were arrested on corruption charges Saturday morning.
The three mayors are Nuhittin Bocek, Abdurrahman Tutdere and Zeydan Karlar and are members of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party, Politico reported.
Karalar is the mayor of Adana, while Tutdere is the mayor of Adiyaman and Bocek the mayor of Antalya.
Republican People’s Party Chairman Burhanettin Bulut said the arrests are politically motivated, Euronews reported.
“Those who use the judiciary as a stick for political revenge do not care about the law, but about protecting their own power,” Balu said in a social media post.
“We will never submit to this dirty system that strikes a blow to the will of the nation.”
Police detained Tutdere at his house in Ankara in the morning and then took him to Istanbul.
Reports do not say if Karalar or Bocek also were taken to Istanbul.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office made the arrests as part of its investigation into an alleged criminal organization operating in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Erdogan has supported the investigation and similar arrests, which he says are due to political corruption by the respective mayors and others.
Hundreds have been detained during recent raids in several of Turkey’s largest cities.
The first raids were carried out in Istanbul and spread to locations in Izmir Province and other cities.
