A Turkish court jailed Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar on 8 July as part of a corruption investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Karalar is one of six people remanded in custody on allegations that they demanded illicit payments from a cleaning contractor in return for approving municipal payments, behaviour that prosecutors classify as extortion (“icbar suretiyle irtikap”) and money-laundering. Karalar, a senior figure in the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), had been detained on 5 July during coordinated raids that netted 13 suspects. In a referral document submitted to the court, prosecutors said the mayor directed company officials to an intermediary who later collected cash in Istanbul and Adana. Investigators cite bank records, telephone logs and witness statements to claim the scheme dates back several years, including the period when Karalar headed the Seyhan district municipality. Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere, also from the CHP and held in the same operation, was released under a judicial control order that confines him to house arrest. Prosecutors sought similar extortion charges against Tutdere but argued that his alleged role could be addressed through lighter restrictions. The case is one strand of three ongoing probes into tender rigging and bribery allegedly orchestrated by businessman Aziz İhsan Aktaş and a network that prosecutors say sought to influence contracts across several municipalities. Earlier raids led to the detention of Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek and officials from Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece district, underscoring mounting legal pressure on opposition-run local governments.