Turkish municipal financial audit irregularities

The Turkish Court of Accounts (Sayıştay) has released audit reports identifying widespread financial and administrative irregularities across various municipalities.

Initial findings highlighted procurement violations in Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, and Antalya, where municipalities exceeded legal limits for direct procurement or restricted competition through combined tenders. Reports also noted significant debt issues in Malatya and rising interest expenses in Kapaklı, alongside environmental mismanagement in İzmir.

Subsequent reports detailed further violations, specifically noting that the Malatya Metropolitan Municipality exceeded its 2025 debt limit, reaching 16.3 billion lira. Additional findings included the failure of the Malatya Water and Sewerage Administration to transfer environmental cleaning tax shares, unexecuted demolition orders in Yeşilyurt, and improper simultaneous payments to municipal council members and executives in Kayseri.

Recent 2025 audit reports have expanded these findings to include the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), which allegedly paid inflated prices for items such as shroud cloth and sweets, and diverted metro project funds to other expenditures. In Ankara, irregularities were identified regarding shopping mall licenses for buildings failing to meet necessary criteria.

Regional issues persist in Malatya, where interest payments on loans have reportedly exceeded principal amounts, and six public officials, including a former deputy governor, have been granted permission for investigation regarding alleged public losses during post-earthquake debris removal. In Bilecik, a municipal company faces a 238 million TL debt to social security institutions amid allegations of nepotism. Audits in Düzce and Köşk identified improper personnel assignments and unauthorized service procurements, while a Ministry of Interior report noted procedural failures in Antalya regarding the communication of legal rights during investigations.