Warrants issued for 4 municipal officials in Istanbul espionage probe

ISTANBUL

Authorities issued detention warrants on Oct. 30 for four Istanbul Municipality officials as part of an espionage investigation linked to a major data-leak case.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested last week in connection with the same probe, alongside his former adviser Necati Özkan and journalist Merdan Yanardağ.

The new charges against İmamoğlu stem from an investigation into alleged ties between his 2019 mayoral campaign and businessman Hüseyin Gün, who was arrested in July on accusations of conducting intelligence activities on behalf of foreign governments.

Prosecutors alleged that the case involves the leaking of personal data of millions of Istanbul residents through municipal applications.

In the latest development on Oct. 30, the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office issued detention orders for four municipal personnel.

According to prosecutors, the personal and location data of 4.7 million users were siphoned to two foreign countries through the “İstanbul Senin” app, while the personal and location data of 3.7 million users were put up for sale on the dark web.

They also claimed that the voter-registry data of 11 million citizens were processed and extracted through a sub-application called “İBB Hanem.”

Two of the suspects reportedly worked at the municipality’s smart urbanism department, while the other two were employed at the communications coordination center.

The four individuals are accused of unlawfully disseminating personal data and membership in a criminal organization.

İmamoğlu currently faces several ongoing investigations, including those over the corruption allegations, the alleged forgery of his university diploma, insulting an expert witness and other offenses — some carrying potential prison sentences and political bans.