Who is Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe? Why was he detained?

The fifth wave of the operation targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality was launched early this morning. Detention warrants were issued for a total of 47 people across four separate investigations, involving seven different criminal allegations.

In the investigation, which was expanded based on the statements provided by Aziz İhsan Aktaş—who is currently imprisoned on charges of being a "criminal organization leader"—under the effective remorse provision, Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe was also included in the detention list. Allegations that Bahçetepe provided financial benefits in exchange for tenders are being investigated.

WHO IS HAKAN BAHÇETEPE?

Hakan Bahçetepe was born in Gaziosmanpaşa in 1988. He is the first child of a family originally from Erzincan. After completing his primary and high school education in Gaziosmanpaşa, he graduated from the Department of Accounting and Finance Management at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Istanbul Aydın University. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in Business Administration at the same university.

He made sports an important part of his life by playing football during his high school and university years. Bahçetepe, who began his professional life in his father's shop in Gaziosmanpaşa, has been serving as a senior executive in a company operating in the cable sector since 2015.

Bahçetepe, who stepped into his political career in the youth branches of the Republican People's Party (CHP), served as the Istanbul Provincial Vice President between 2017 and 2019, and as the Gaziosmanpaşa District President between 2019 and 2023. He was elected as the Mayor of Gaziosmanpaşa in the March 31, 2024 Local Administration Elections.

He resides in Gaziosmanpaşa and is married.

News Source: 12punto