Aziz İhsan Aktaş investigation concluded: Case closed in UYAP

The investigation known to the public as the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş investigation," which led to the arrest of CHP mayors—most notably Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, as well as the mayors of Esenyurt, Gaziosmanpaşa, Avcılar, Seyhan, Ceyhan, and the Adana Metropolitan Municipality—has been concluded.

Within the scope of the Aziz İhsan Aktaş criminal organization file, Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar, and Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar were arrested, and these individuals remain in custody.

"INDICTMENT PREPARED"

Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz stated in a post on his social media account that they observed the investigation file numbered 2024/236201 had been closed in the UYAP system and that they learned a file numbered 2025/234859 had been separated (severed) from the main case.

Lawyer Ersöz noted that the closure of the main file in UYAP indicates that the indictment has been prepared and has either been sent to the court or is in the process of being sent.

Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz included the following statements in his post:

Within the scope of the file (2024/236201) known to the public as the "Beşiktaş Investigation," the mayors of Beşiktaş, Esenyurt, Gaziosmanpaşa, Avcılar, Seyhan, Ceyhan, and the Adana Metropolitan Municipality were arrested.

The indictment for this investigation was expected to be written by the middle of this month. And so it was. Yesterday (October 17, 2025), we saw that the investigation file was closed. This means that an indictment has been written for the main file and it has either been sent to the court or is in the process of being sent.

"SOME MAYORS MAY HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM THE MAIN CASE"

However, we also learned from UYAP that on the same date, another file (2025/234859) was separated from this main case (2024/236201) for which an indictment was prepared. This situation may mean that some mayors have been separated from the main case, which could imply that they were "not included in the indictment." In this case, several legal possibilities will arise:

"OTHER OPERATIONS MAY TAKE PLACE"

The first thought that comes to mind is that the investigation proceedings regarding the mayors whose files were separated are still ongoing. The indictments to be prepared for these individuals in the future could be merged with the main case or sent to the prosecutor's offices in the provinces and districts where the municipalities are located. On the other hand, one should not ignore the possibility of other operations taking place through this file, which has received a new investigation number.

It is, of course, not possible to make a definitive comment before the indictment is accepted by the court and we see who has been included in it. But contrary to public expectation, the situation of all detained mayors appearing before a judge and the expectation that their detention status will be handled by courts other than the Criminal Judgeships of Peace may have been postponed for a while.

This situation will also bring about debates on the Right to a Fair Trial in the context of the Right to Liberty and the Right to be Tried within a Reasonable Time.

COULD NOT BE CONFIRMED BY THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

The details of the indictment, which lawyer Ersöz stated had been prepared, have not yet been reached. In the continuation of the same post, Ersöz stated that a courthouse reporter reached out to him and said that they 'could not confirm from the prosecutor's office that the indictment had been prepared,' adding: "At this point, one possibility—in a way we have almost never seen an example of before—could bring to mind that the indictment might have been written under a new investigation number. In any case, this uncertainty seems likely to be clarified once the indictment is accepted by the court and access to the file is provided to lawyers."

News Source: 12punto