A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced Tanju Özcan, the suspended opposition mayor of the northwestern city of Bolu, to more than seven years in prison for extortion over allegations that businesses were pressured into providing money to a foundation he chaired, the DHA news agency reported.
The Bolu 3rd High Criminal Court also imposed a four-year political ban on Özcan, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Suspended deputy mayor Süleyman Can and Ali Sarıyıldız, a former executive of the “I Love Bolu” Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation (BolSev) founded by Özcan, received the same prison sentence.
The trial had 19 defendants, with the court convicting eight and acquitting 11. The convictions can be appealed. Özcan, who has been jailed since March, remains in custody.
Özcan denied all charges. In his defense on Monday he appealed for release and promised to stay out of public controversy.
“I want to be free. I want to ask for a woman’s hand in marriage on my son’s behalf. I will stay at home like a cat, keeping out of trouble. Whether they release Öcalan or fill the country with refugees, I don’t care. I will sit at home like a cat without getting involved in anything,” he said.
He was referring to Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who is involved in peace talks with the Turkish government.
Özcan has long campaigned against refugees, cutting municipal aid to Syrians and pushing through higher water and marriage registration fees for foreigners to encourage them to leave Bolu.
Prosecutors accused Özcan and other defendants of using the municipality’s powers to pressure supermarket chains into signing advertising contracts that generated income for a company affiliated with BolSev. Businesses that refused were allegedly subjected to municipal inspections and penalties.
Özcan said he had encouraged businesses to support the foundation’s charitable work but denied threatening supermarket managers.
He claimed that supermarket representatives themselves proposed using their advertising budgets to buy billboard space operated by the foundation.
Özcan was arrested on March 2, two days after his detention, with the Interior Ministry subsequently suspending him from office. His lawyer has described the foundation’s finances as transparent and the prosecution as politically motivated.
The court also convicted Özcan of aggravated fraud involving donations collected to pay for animal sacrifices, handing down a separate suspended prison sentence for each of 34 donors. It acquitted him of bribery and violating a law governing relations between public institutions and foundations.
Özcan won re-election as mayor of Bolu in March 2024 with 52.9 percent of the vote.
His prosecution comes amid a series of investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities following the party’s gains in the 2024 local elections. The CHP says the proceedings are intended to sideline elected opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The pressure intensified after the March 2025 arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, widely seen as Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, on corruption charges.
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