Corruption in Mardin municipality after government takeover: 13 people remanded in custody

Mardin Metropolitan Municipality (Photo: AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Eight more people have been remanded in custody as part of the corruption investigation in the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality.

The Ministry of Interior dismissed Ahmet Türk from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) as the mayor of the Kurdish-majority southeastern province in August 2019 and appointed then-Governor Mustafa Yaman as the "deputy mayor."

Following allegations of corruption, Yaman was sidelined with a presidential decree and a new governor was appointed on June 10. Mahmut Demirtaş, the new governor, also assumed office as the "trustee" of the municipality.

After an investigation regarding the corruption allegations started, 14 municipal executives were dismissed from their posts in late July. five of them were remanded in custody for several charges, including corruption, irregularities, bribery and bid-rigging.

Eight more people remanded in custody for similar charges on Saturday (August 1).

Ercan Uysaler, a police officer who was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison for forcing a woman municipal employee to sex work, was also remanded in custody seven months after his conviction.

Former mayor Türk told the Mesopotamia Agency that there was an "unprecedented robbery" in the municipality, the budget of which was 375 million Turkish lira (53.7 million USD) whereas its debt exceeded one billion lira (143 million USD). (TP/VK)