Ankara mayor slams investigation request over municipality concerts
ANKARA
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş has criticized prosecutors’ request for seeking authorization to open an investigation against him, stressing that the capital’s municipality has “nothing to hide from the judiciary.”
Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested permission from the Interior Ministry to investigate Yavaş and his Chief of Staff Nevzat Uzunoğlu as part of an ongoing probe into concerts organized by the Ankara Municipality.
Earlier in March, nine municipal employees were investigated over alleged “public financial losses” linked to several cultural events.
The controversy first erupted when reports claimed that the municipality paid 69 million Turkish Liras for a concert by singer Ebru Gündeş held as part of the Oct. 29 Republic Day celebrations in 2024.
In a statement on Nov. 11, 2024, Yavaş revealed — citing Gündeş’s consent — that the payment to the artist and her team amounted to 4.75 million liras, not 69 million.
At the time, he argued that “false information” had been deliberately leaked from within the municipality “for certain purposes,” adding, “We are facing a perception operation.”
The case resurfaced last week after prosecutors cited allegations of “misuse of office” and “neglect of supervisory duties” in their request for investigation authorization.
Responding to the move, Yavaş, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said, “We have no objection to being investigated. They have audited us many times.”
“Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office does not need permission from the Interior Ministry to question us. If summoned, we are ready to testify voluntarily, because we have nothing to conceal or fear,” he said.
CHP Deputy Chair Gül Çiftci described the request for investigation authorization as “a new phase of judicial pressure.”
Several opposition mayors, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, have been targeted in corruption and bribery probes in recent months. The CHP maintains that all these judicial processes are politically motivated.
