08.05.2026 09:21
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a new operation targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Detention warrants were issued for 30 individuals on allegations of "operating an unlawful fictitious tender system through Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş. and rigging tenders," with 29 people being detained. It was learned that Deputy Secretary General Oktay Özel and Parks and Gardens Department Head Tuğba Ölmez Hancı were among those detained.
The 34th hearing of the case with 414 defendants, 77 of whom are detained, filed on charges of corruption against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), has concluded, while the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a new operation.
STATEMENT FROM THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
According to a statement from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 29 people have been detained as part of the investigation into allegations of "bid rigging" against IBB's Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş.
OKTAY ÖZEL ALSO DETAINED
It has been learned that among those detained are Deputy Secretary General Oktay Özel and Park and Gardens Department Head Tuğba Ölmez Hancı.
29 SUSPECTS DETAINED
The statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the matter is as follows: "Within the scope of investigations conducted by our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into actions carried out as part of the activities of the criminal organization established under the leadership of Ekrem İmamoğlu, regarding allegations that the organization rigged bids by unlawfully operating a fictitious tender system through its subsidiary company Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş., a detention decision was made for 30 suspects as part of an operation carried out on 08.05.2026. Of the suspects, 29 have been apprehended and detained by law enforcement forces, while efforts to capture the remaining 1 suspect, who is abroad, are ongoing."