THE mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested on Saturday, state-run media reported, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March.

Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested with two other suspects in a separate bribery investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Anadolu reported.

CHP officials have faced waves of arrests this year that many consider aimed at neutralising Turkey’s main opposition party. 

The government insists prosecutors and the judiciary act independently but the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu led to the largest street protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade.

Mr Karalar was arrested near Istanbul and Mr Tutdere was arrested in the capital, Ankara, where he has a home. 

Mr Tutdere posted on X that he was being taken to Istanbul. Police also carried out searches at the municipal offices in Adana and Adiyaman.

Eleven people, including Mr Karalar and Mr Tutdere, were arrested as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into allegations involving organised crime, bribery and bid-rigging.

Prosecutors accused the mayors of requesting “unfair financial benefits from company executives doing business with the municipality.” 

The mayors’ detentions follow the arrests of scores of officials from municipalities controlled by the CHP in recent months.

Following their arrests, CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel convened a meeting of the party’s senior leadership. Meanwhile, the CHP mayor of Ankara questioned why municipalities controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party were not subjected to the same level of judicial scrutiny as opposition politicians.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc condemned “irresponsible accusations that directly harm the impartiality and independence of the judiciary and aim to undermine it.”