Turkey’s Interior Ministry has suspended Niyazi Nefi Kara, the mayor of the Mediterranean resort district of Manavgat, after a court ordered his arrest in an expansive bribery investigation. Kara, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party, was removed from office on 8 July pending judicial proceedings. Prosecutors in Antalya allege that Kara and senior municipal officials demanded kickbacks for hotel renovations, building permits and occupancy certificates. Police carried out four months of technical and physical surveillance before detaining 34 people, including the mayor and his deputies; 31 were formally taken to court. Investigators say the network used front companies linked to the municipality and a sports club to issue false invoices, siphoning roughly 800 million lira ($24 million) in illicit gains. In a separate incident that drew national attention, a deputy mayor was filmed accepting €110,000 concealed in a box of baklava. The probe continues while a caretaker administration runs the municipality.