Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu's Corruption Probe Stalls After AKP Switch

Journalist Tolga Şardan reports that the corruption investigation into Aydın Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Özlem Çerçioğlu has made little progress after her move from the CHP to the AKP. The probe concerns alleged irregularities in eight municipal contracts worth about 8.5 billion lira signed between 2017 and 2024. A complaint was filed in early 2025 by resident Haldun Haşmet Aysan, naming the mayor, several municipal officials and contractors as suspects.

The Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor requested permission from the Ministry of Interior’s Provincial Administration to open a formal case on 17 July 2025. While the ministry eventually sent the file to the Civil Service Inspection Board, the paperwork shows a date error—listing the approval as 11 August 2026, a date that had not yet occurred. Moreover, inspectors assigned to the case have not visited Aydın, a fact confirmed by the complainant.

Çerçioğlu attended the AKP’s 24th anniversary ceremony on 14 August 2025 and received the party’s badge, three days after the ministry supposedly approved inspector appointments. Subsequent requests from the prosecutor for updates were met with delayed responses, and the investigation remains effectively stalled.