13 suspects were detained in the Ataşehir Municipality corruption investigation

13 suspects, including Ataşehir Deputy Mayor Murat Güneş, were detained in the operation carried out by Istanbul Police Department Financial Crimes Branch Directorate teams yesterday morning, within the scope of the corruption investigation against Ataşehir Municipality by the ANATOLIA Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. In the statement made by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that within the scope of the corruption investigation against Ataşehir Municipality, the investigation was deepened as a result of the examinations made in the digital materials of the suspects arrested on April 20, the statements of the suspects taken within the scope of effective remorse, the witness statements taken as a result of CİMER notices and the statements of the suspects who paid bribes. It was also claimed that new evidence was obtained as a result of the investigations carried out on the suspects' HTS, BAZ and MASAK account movements.

'BRIBERY AND BENEFIT' CLAIM

In the statement, municipal employees who were found to have used high-value luxury store gift cards as bribes and received money given in foreign currency, company owner suspects who were found to have given money in foreign currency with high-value gift cards as part of bribery, municipal employees who were determined through digital material examinations to provide financial benefit by having the owners of companies carrying out zoning and settlement transactions in Ataşehir Municipality buy so-called garbage containers, and people who were determined to have committed acts subject to investigation in collaboration with the suspects arrested on April 20, 2026, simultaneously on October 3, 2026. It was stated that search, seizure and detention procedures were carried out. It was also reported that within the scope of the operation, 13 suspects were caught and detained, and a large number of digital materials were seized during the searches carried out at the addresses of the suspects. Among those detained are Ataşehir Deputy Mayor Murat Güneş, former Ataşehir Deputy Mayors Murat Korkmaz and Leyla Terzi, and Deputy Mayors Aytekin Şahin and Ekrem Köse.