Police detain 10 in raid on Eskişehir Municipality

ESKİŞEHİR

Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen (C) denied media reports that he was asked to testify in the investigation. AA Photo

Police detained 10 people working at the Eskişehir Municipality during raids on their homes conducted as part of an investigation into the “city development tender.”

The investigation regarding the tender began two years ago, Doğan News Agency reported, but the municipality offices were not searched by police as the related documents had been previously investigated.

Meanwhile, Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen denied media reports that he was asked to testify in the investigation, Anatolia news agency reported. Büyükerşen said he had learned about the detainment of the municipality officials via media reports.

“The police department did not provide any information about our detained friends. We learned about it from media reports and phone calls from inside and outside Turkey… I was not called to testify,” said Büyükerşen in a press conference today. “They are attacking me but they cannot succeed, so they are targeting my friends.”

Büyükerşen added that he is worried about his detained colleagues due to the procedures of the judiciary. “Many people in Turkey, even the prime minister, are worried about the [judiciary] system and I am worried too,” he said, implying concern regarding the long detention periods of criminal suspects in Turkey.