CHP draws Roadmap After Beşiktaş Mayor's Arrest

CHP leader Özgür Özel met with party deputies on Jan. 18 in Istanbul to discuss the party's response to the situation.

Multiple rallies will be organized as part of the party's response, Ali Mahir Başarır, one of the party's parliamentary leaders, told reporters.

"We will take tougher, more important steps," Başarır said. "This process will be a process of taking over power."

The CHP's top party assembly convened on Jan. 19 in Istanbul, with further meetings planned for Jan. 20 to finalize a roadmap on how to address the developments.

Akpolat was arrested along with 22 others, including the deputy mayor of Istanbul's Beşiktaş, Alican Abacı, and businessman Aziz İhsan Aktaş, the purported ringleader of a network involved in securing municipal tenders through illegal means.

The charges center on Akpolat's involvement in a “persistent and extensive” bribery scheme that manipulated municipal tenders with companies linked to the crime syndicate. He is also accused of being a member of the group.

Beşiktaş has long been under the CHP and one of its strongholds. Akpolat commenced his second term last March after securing a landslide victory with 64 percent of the vote.

Following around four-day detention, the court sent Akpolat to the prison early on Jan. 17.

"I have never demanded material gain from anyone in the course of my tenure as mayor," local media quoted the mayor as saying in his testimony.

"I am aware of some of the individuals and companies mentioned, but beyond that, I have no acquaintance, familiarity or commercial relationship with them. The allegations are baseless."

Source: HDN