Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that an investigation revealed the identities of 1,668 people working in the Istanbul municipality who are related to terrorist organisations.
The ministry’s announcement came a day after Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that the ministry completed the terrorism investigation against municipalities controlled by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
“The state will never tolerate the infiltration of terrorist organisations into municipalities,” said Soylu in his announcement.
Soylu noted that investigations into the Istanbul Metropolitan, Mersin Metropolitan, Adana Seyhan and Istanbul Ataşehir municipalities have been completed and the reports were sent to the prosecutor’s offices on 9 December, while the investigations into Izmir, Ayvalık and other municipalities are ongoing.
The Ministry felt the need to make an announcement on Saturday, after some in the Turkish media claimed that if the municipalities are employing people linked with terrorist organisations, the provincial governors or the Interior Minister should be held responsible instead of mayors.
The Ministry stated that the investigation was completed on 6 December, therefore, it was not possible to establish a procedure for dismissal from public service by governor’s offices or the ministry.
The Turkish central government institutions and local governments have been using a very strict security check process for new recruits since a failed coup attempt in 2015. The security inquiries for all employed public officials entered into legislation in 2021.
Following local elections in 2019, the government used charges of terrorism to depose elected HDP mayors and replace them with appointed ones. Although the government has repeatedly attempted to criminalise the CHP by linking it with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), it has so far not resorted to removing CHP mayors from office.
The minister and the ministry’s accusations against the Istanbul municipality over alleged terrorist ties have raised eyebrows after a Turkish court sentenced Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of İstanbul, to over two-years-and-six-months in prison for insulting public officials last week. The mayor, who is also one of the strongest opposition candidates for the 2023 presidential elections, will face a political ban if higher courts approve the sentence.
İmamoğlu said on Saturday that the government was seeking ways to remove the CHP and other opposition mayors, including himself, and replace them with appointed ones.
