Esenyurt Municipality Trustee Can Aksoy Dismissed Following Corruption Probe
Can Aksoy, the trustee who ran the Esenyurt district administration in Istanbul, has been removed from his position and reassigned as an Istanbul deputy governor, according to the article. The shift follows a sweeping municipal corruption inquiry that resulted in the arrest of several senior local officials, altering the administrative leadership of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district amid ongoing legal proceedings.
Can Aksoy Reassigned to Vali Yardımcısı Role Following Municipal Corruption Inquiry
The administrative change comes just days after Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a major corruption operation targeting municipal tenders and alleged bribery involving contractors. Authorities detained 19 suspects on October 7, 2026, leading to the arrest of nine individuals on October 10. Among those jailed was Esenyurt Yusuf Ulutaş, an official appointed directly by Aksoy. Ten other suspects received judicial control orders.
Reporting detailed staggering sums uncovered during the investigation. Searches of properties tied to Ulutaş revealed hundreds of thousands of foreign currency units alongside millions of liras in cash. Investigators executing a subsequent search in Küçükçekmece located two steel safes containing a combined total of seven million US dollars and hundreds of thousands of euros.
Former ruling party lawmaker Şamil Tayyar publicly criticized the scale of the illicit funds via social media, highlighting that financial monitoring reports showed municipal-linked monetary movements surging from millions of liras in 2024 to hundreds of millions in 2025. Tayyar stated that figures attempting to intervene on behalf of the detained deputy mayor were rebuffed by leadership.
Ahmet Özer Arrest Triggers Extended Municipal Turmoil in Esenyurt
Can Aksoy originally assumed control of the municipality on October 31, 2024. He stepped in as acting mayor after the elected CHP mayor, Ahmet Özer, was detained and removed from office by the Ministry of Interior on October 30, 2024, over allegations of membership in an armed terrorist organization.
While Özer was released from prison on November 12, 2025, his legal battles compounded. Diken.com.tr reported that Özer faced a secondary arrest regarding tender rigging allegations tied to a separate criminal organization probe. Courts ultimately sentenced Özer to six years and three months in prison for terrorist organization membership, alongside an eight-month sentence for misconduct regarding the separate tender investigation.
As state oversight shifted, multiple outlets reported differing details regarding Aksoy’s immediate successor. While ntv.com.tr and Hürriyet confirmed Aksoy’s return to his baseline duties as an Istanbul deputy governor, birgun.net and Cumhuriyet reported that Ulaş Akhan, general secretary of the Van Metropolitan Municipality, had been designated as the new trustee for Esenyurt. Cumhuriyet noted that Akhan’s prior tenure in Van involved significant administrative controversies, including the dismissal of 223 municipal workers.
Leadership Shifts Leave Administrative Oversight Unresolved
The abrupt transition leaves municipal governance in Esenyurt under continuous legal strain and administrative turnover. While state media channels and regional news desks confirm Aksoy’s removal from the district helm, official notices regarding the full operational scope of the incoming administration remain subject to ongoing judicial updates.
Observers monitoring municipal governance and public procurement integrity note that managing complex administrative reorganizations often requires specialized legal counsel and thorough corporate compliance reviews. When local authorities face widespread probes into public tenders and asset management, institutions and contractors typically engage qualified legal professionals to address regulatory exposure and safeguard operations.
The sequence of detentions, asset seizures, and rapid gubernatorial reassignments shows the persistent volatility affecting local government offices across major Turkish jurisdictions. With judicial probes active and leadership positions shifting repeatedly, the long-term administrative stability of the Esenyurt municipal apparatus remains an open question.