Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer, Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer were arrested (Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, A Haber, Yeni Ankara, Notbir). The operation was carried out simultaneously on three municipalities on October 1, and 59 people were detained. The prosecutor’s office requested arrest for 50 people and judicial control for 10 (dokuz8Haber); the numbers vary with the stages of the investigation. In Mezitli, nine people were arrested together with Tuncer and six were placed under house arrest. According to the allegation, there is a public loss of about 331 million lira in 13 tenders and 63 direct procurement purchases at the Metropolitan Municipality. The investigation rests on searches carried out on March 11, 2026.
Metropolitan mayors are heavyweights in national politics; the arrest of three at once directly affects how Mersin is run and the tension between opposition and government.
If you live in Mersin, municipal services will continue according to the decision on an acting mayor or a trustee (kayyum). For other cities, the question of whether further operations are coming is on the agenda.
According to the prosecutor’s office, this is a corruption investigation based on irregularities in specific tenders and purchases, and the judiciary is examining the public loss.
According to the opposition, the operations are political and mayors are being held without an indictment; in particular, the criticism is that the will of the voters is being cut short through the courts.
An arrest is not a conviction; but if the public loss allegation rests on documents, it will show in the indictment. What to watch: the indictment, appeals against detention, and the municipality’s election of an acting mayor.
Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, A Haber, Yeni Ankara, Notbir, dokuz8Haber, Ege Telgraf, Aydınlık (Oct. 1-6, 2026)
Three mayors in Mersin, including Vahap Seçer, arrested; prosecutors allege about 331 million lira in public loss
59 people were detained in the operation on October 1. The opposition calls the investigation political; the charges have not yet been tested in court.
In the corruption investigation led by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer, Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer were arrested by a criminal judgeship of peace (Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, A Haber, Yeni Ankara). The operation was carried out simultaneously on three municipalities on October 1, and 59 people were detained. The prosecutor’s office requested arrest for 50 people and judicial control for 10 (dokuz8Haber); the numbers in the sources reflect different stages of the investigation.
According to reports, nine suspects from Mezitli Municipality were arrested together with Tuncer, six people were placed under house arrest and one was released under judicial control. According to the prosecutor’s allegation, a public loss of about 331 million lira arose in 13 tenders and 63 direct procurement purchases at Mersin Metropolitan Municipality. The investigation rests on searches carried out at the municipality on March 11, 2026.
New Party Chairman Özgür Özel argues that the operations are political and says the mayors were put in prison without an indictment (Ege Telgraf, Aydınlık). The prosecutor’s allegations and the arrests are not yet a court ruling; whether the defendants are guilty will become clear at trial. There is no indictment in the sources DailyDrop has seen.