Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek claims €15 million demand from Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu

Antalya Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Muhittin Böcek, detained in a bribery probe, gave multiple supplemental statements alleging that Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu asked him for roughly €15 million to support his candidacy. Böcek said €5 million of the sum was transferred by an informal “havala” system, using a banknote photo and a slip with a SIM‑card number that was to be handed over in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.

Böcek’s accounts describe trips to Manisa in January 2024, where he reportedly carried a bag filled with euros, and two meetings in Istanbul’s Renaissance Polat Bosphorus Hotel in November 2023 and December 2023, each lasting about an hour. He claims that İmamoğlu promised to back his candidacy and that he would cover the Mediterranean‑region campaign costs. Testimony from his special aide Yasin Yellice corroborates seeing a euro‑filled bag and details the Manisa visit and the Istanbul meetings.

The statements form part of an ongoing corruption investigation into the CHP’s local‑election candidate selection process, also involving party leader Özgür Özel and other officials.