According to the state news agency Anadolu, the arrests were ordered from Istanbul's prosecutor's office in connection with an investigation into a web of extortion, bribery and fraud.
But the mayor Hasan Mutlu, who governs the municipality of Bayrampasa, dismisses the allegations as baseless slander and that they are politically motivated in a post on X.
A two-digit number of mayors belonging to the opposition party CHP have been arrested this year accused of corruption, including Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. He is considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival. CHP sees the arrests as a way to weaken the opposition, something the government denies.
