A regional head of Turkey’s main opposition party was arrested Sunday as part of a corruption investigation, local media reported.

Ümit Erkol, chair of the Ankara provincial branch of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was taken into custody along with eight other people as part of a graft investigation over contract between the İzmir municipality and the İzbeton construction firm, news outlets T24 and BirGün reported.

The investigation concerns “charges of embezzlement, fraud, forgery of official documents and failure to fulfil oversight obligations,” according to the İzmir prosecutor’s office as cited by local press.

Mansur Yavaş, the CHP mayor of Ankara, condemned Erkol being held in detention in a post on X, arguing he was a well-known public figure who does not pose a flight risk.

“If an arrest warrant is issued under these circumstances, then we cannot speak of justice,” Yavaş said.

Turkey’s opposition has been under pressure since the arrest of İstanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March 2025.

He has been on trial for corruption since March 9, along with 413 co-defendants.

İmamoğlu, chosen by the CHP as its candidate for the presidential election scheduled for May 2028, was seen as the frontrunner and the only person to defeat longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

© Agence France-Presse