Kadıköy local officers detained as part of bribery investigation
ISTANBUL
Detention warrants have been issued for more than 220 suspects, including officers of Kadıköy Municipality in Istanbul, as part of a judicial investigation into an alleged bribery scheme, Demirören News Agency reported on May 17.
Around 200 of the 224 suspects were detained by police in Istanbul, the northwestern province of Kocaeli, the Aegean province of İzmir, the southern province of Adana and the southeastern province of Şırnak.
The prosecutor’s office in charge of civil servant crimes on the Asian side of Istanbul issued detention warrants for 54 municipal police officers and engineers employed by the municipality in the district of Kadıköy.
Charges against suspects included bribery and forgery of official documents, local media reported.
In a written statement, the Kadıköy Municipality said that neither the police nor the prosecutor’s office had informed local officials ahead of detentions.
“Our institution has been conducting an internal query to determine the number of personnel under detention and their identities,” it said.
The district of Kadıköy, an affluent historical district of Istanbul, has been a stronghold of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for many years.
Listing the globe’s “100 coolest neighborhoods of 2021,” the world’s renowned culture, entertainment and events magazine Time Out has put Kadıköy in the 45th row.
Traditionally a peaceful environment for the intelligentsia, the district has become famous for its trendy shopping streets, theaters and cafes as well as new-generation patisseries, coffee shops and bars in recent years.
