Alongside Beşikçioğlu, 37 Municipal Employees and 18 Company Officials Were Taken Into Custody

Turkish prosecutors refer Etimesgut Mayor Beşikçioğlu and 54 others to court Ankara prosecutors have referred Etimesgut Mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu and 54 others to court as part of an investigation that led to their detention on July 30. The Interior Ministry said the 55 suspects were detained on charges of forming a criminal organization and being a member, embezzlement, bribery, extortion, bid rigging, fraudulent performance of obligations and abuse of office. Alongside Beşikçioğlu, 37 municipal employees and 18 company officials were taken into custody. The Ankara Western Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the probe centered on allegations that the municipality’s tenders, forged documents, parking-lot leases and zoning and licensing procedures related to construction projects were used to secure illicit benefits.

Police raided the municipal building as well as suspects’ homes, offices and vehicles in an early-morning operation. Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Müslim Sarı said: “The government must immediately stop operations that systematically target only CHP municipalities. Deputy Mayor Ebru Keyvan, speaking on behalf of the municipality, said: “We are at our posts.

We stand behind our president. We are following the process. We have no clear information.

We are in contact with our legal unit and lawyers. Beşikçioğlu was elected mayor in the 2024 local elections with 56.6 percent of the vote, ending four consecutive terms of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) rule in Etimesgut. Born in Ankara in 1970, he graduated from Hacettepe University State Conservatory in 1993 and worked for years at State Theaters.

He became widely known for his starring role in the television series “Behzat Ç. and also played the late Erzincan Governor Recep Yazıcıoğlu in the film “Vali. After CHP leader Özgür Özel and some MPs formed the New Party, Beşikçioğlu announced he would remain with the CHP.””””