Seven detained in second wave of Menderes municipality corruption probe

September 25, 2026 at 10:48 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

A Turkish court ordered the detention of seven suspects in the second wave of an investigation into corruption at Menderes Municipality in Izmir. The suspects, including a former deputy mayor and a jeweler, face charges of bribery, extortion, forgery, and abuse of office. Two other suspects were released under judicial control.

Key Facts

Seven of nine suspects detained in the second wave of the Menderes Municipality investigation were ordered jailed by a court in Izmir.
The detained suspects include former Menderes Deputy Mayor E.Ö. and jeweler O.G.
Two suspects, E.Ö. and M.R.G., were released under judicial control.
Menderes Mayor İlkay Çiçek was suspended from office on August 8, 2026, by the Interior Ministry.
In the first wave on August 4, 16 suspects were detained, and 10 were later jailed, including Mayor Çiçek.

Second Wave Detentions

The Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office completed processing of nine suspects detained by gendarmerie teams in the second wave of the Menderes Municipality investigation. After health checks, the suspects were brought before a judge, who ordered seven of them jailed. The jailed suspects are identified as A.U., S.K., Ç.Ç., O.D., A.D., O.G., and M.K. Former Deputy Mayor E.Ö. and M.R.G. were released under judicial control.

First Wave and Mayor's Suspension

On August 4, 16 suspects, including Mayor İlkay Çiçek, were detained in the first wave of the investigation into bribery, extortion, forgery, abuse of office, and causing zoning pollution. Ten of those suspects, including Çiçek, were jailed, while the others were released under judicial control. Lawyer E.G., who conducted WhatsApp correspondence with Çiçek that became public, was detained on September 10 and later jailed. Mayor İlkay Çiçek was suspended from office on August 8, 2026, by Interior Ministry approval under Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of Municipal Law No. 5393.

Investigation Scope

The investigation covers charges of forming an organization to commit crime, membership in such an organization, bribery, extortion, forgery of official documents, abuse of office, and causing zoning pollution. In the first operation, 15 suspects were detained on August 4, and Deputy Mayor Rüzgar Sönmez was detained in a later operation. Among those jailed in the first wave were Deputy Mayors Rüzgar Sönmez and Mesut Taşdemir, Zoning and Urbanization Director İbrahim Yalça, Plan and Project Director Durmuş Parım, Building Control Director Ömer Eryılmaz, Acting Plan and Project Director Yaprak Uçak, and Municipal Council Members Emre Pala, Ferdi Hepyılmaz, and Mustafa Pala. Six other suspects were released under judicial control in the first wave.