THE mayor of one of Turkey’s opposition strongholds was arrested today as part of a bid-rigging investigation, prosecutors in Istanbul said.

Riza Akpolat, who heads Besiktas municipality on the city’s European side, was detained at his summer house in Edremit on Turkey’s west coast, news agency DHA reported.

Besiktas has long been under the control of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). It is home to the famous football club of the same name.