30.03.2026 10:24
As part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the crimes of "bribery," "corruption," and "manipulating a tender," 13 suspects, including Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who were detained half-naked in a hotel room, have been referred to the courthouse.
The operations carried out by the Financial Crimes Investigation Department of the Istanbul Police, coordinated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, resulted in the completion of the procedures for the suspects detained in the operation conducted as part of the investigation against Uşak Mayor Yalım, who is accused of receiving bribes from individuals and companies. After a health check, 13 suspects were transferred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.
4 MORE PEOPLE DETAINED
Meanwhile, it was learned that 4 more suspects were detained in Uşak as part of the investigation and will be brought to Istanbul for their procedures.
INVESTIGATION
In a statement made by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that the difference created by duplicate invoicing in the tenders given to companies by the Uşak Municipality was received as a bribe, and pressure was exerted to provide partnership shares in newly established businesses related to the tender to the family members of the mayor, otherwise the tender would not be awarded to the relevant companies.
It was stated in the announcement that the deputy mayors collected large amounts of money under the name of "donation to Uşakspor" in their personal accounts, and that cash was brought to Mayor Özkan Yalım's office under the name of "donation" and handed over to the private secretary without a receipt, thus misappropriating it. It was also reported that after businessman E.A. communicated that he would not take more than 3 vehicles requested by the mayor for the municipality, the shopping mall owned by E.A. was sealed on the grounds that it did not comply with the regulations, and a fine of 65 million lira was imposed, according to the statements of the complainant and a confidential witness.
Following these allegations, an investigation was initiated for the crimes of "bribery," "extortion," and "tampering with a tender," and simultaneous operations were conducted in Uşak, Kocaeli, and Ankara on March 27.
In the operation, 13 suspects were detained, including Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, his assistant Halil Arslan, the municipality's Accounting and Finance Director Hüseyin Yaman, Private Secretary Hasan Doğukan Kurnaz, the mayor's driver Murat Altınkaya, and municipality personnel Cihan Aras and Seher Aras.
HE OPENED THE DOOR HALF-NAKED
Yalım was caught at the hotel where he was staying in Ankara. It was determined that a 21-year-old female staff member working at the municipality was with him during the detention. It was learned that the young woman, whose name was not included in the hotel records, had an active social security registration at the municipality.
Yalım, who is married and a father of three, was seen in footage opening the door half-naked to the police.