Interior ministry allows 27 investigations to be launched into İmamoğlu

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Turkish Interior Ministry has allowed a total of 27 investigations to be launched into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu over a number of allegations belonging to his term as a the mayor of the city's Beylikdüzü district.

According to a statement released from Istanbul Municipality, the investigations into İmamoğlu, who is from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), encompass the years between 2012 and 2019.

"A total of 10,451 transactions on tens of thousands of documents were investigated by an inspector and a delegation consisting of 16 to 20 people," the municipality said on May 13, adding that one of the probes concern a period that İmamoğlu was not on duty.

Before being elected Istanbul mayor, İmamoğlu was the mayor of Beylikdüzü between 2014 and 2019. He gained the majority of votes against the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on March 31, 2019 local elections, but the elections were ruled to be repeated by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK).

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On May 6, 2019 his authority of mayorship was stripped, but he received it back after gaining a decisive victory in the rerun elections on June 23, 2019.

According to the municipality, the inspectors and the delegation was sent to Beylikdüzü Municipality on May 6, 2019 by the Interior Ministry.

It also said that the inspector was a candidate from the AKP during the 2015 general elections.

"After intensive works on tens of thousands of documents, 27 cases were forcibly found. Two of the probes were launched over zoning issues and the rest were over processes related to tenders," it said.

Saying that the investigation permit lacks legal basis, the municipality noted that İmamoğlu filed a complaint against the decision to the Council of State.