ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Istanbul’s Beyoglu district mayor Inan Guney and 17 others from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were officially arrested on corruption charges following their detention, state media reported on Tuesday, with the mayor denying the accusations. Guney was detained on Friday along with dozens of others in opposition-held municipalities on several charges including leading a criminal organization, extortion, bribery, aggravated fraud, unlawful acquisition of personal data, and tender rigging, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. “The judge ruled that 17 suspects, including Beyoglu Mayor Guney, be arrested, and that three suspects be subject to judicial control measures in the form of ‘a ban on leaving the country’ and ‘signing a petition’,” Anadolu reported Tuesday. Guney denied the allegations, telling investigators that “all the statements” made by other suspects “were slanderous” and that they were “directed to testify against him,” the state media said. In total, 20 suspects were interrogated, with 17 arrested and three placed under judicial control. Another 24 were released on condition that they do not leave the country. Guney and the CHP said the arrests were politically motivated. Other CHP officials have faced a series of arrests this year, beginning with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in March, which triggered mass protests. In July, authorities also detained three CHP mayors in a corruption probe, state media reported. Many elected Kurdish officials, especially mayors, have also been arrested in recent years.
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