Mayors gather in Bakırköy after raids on two Turkish municipalities

Özgür Özel condemns the detentions as an evening bulletin brings live reporting from outside the municipality and Istanbul's courthouse.

Channel: SÖZCÜ Televizyonu ·

TurkeyStory of October 28, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of SÖZCÜ Televizyonu's most watched videos since yesterday, with 77,416 views.

SÖZCÜ Televizyonu: The news channel of the opposition-leaning Turkish newspaper Sözcü, since 2021. 2.3M subscribers and 3B views.

Özlem Gürses ile Sözcü Ana Haber | 27 Ekim

Things we can learn from the video

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2:51Erdoğan says the government is creating financial capacity to improve retirees' circumstances.
3:13The bulletin reports dawn operations involving Bakırköy and Merkezefendi municipalities.
4:39Özgür Özel condemns the municipal operations in a recorded statement.
8:18Sezin Ceren Övüç reports live from outside Bakırköy municipality, where a crowd has gathered.
12:28The bulletin reports that Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe's release request was rejected, leaving him in pretrial detention.
15:53A separate investigation brings three pretrial detentions; Sarıgül is shown denying a money transfer.

A crowd gathers outside Bakırköy municipality in Istanbul as mayors arrive following dawn raids on two Turkish local authorities. Reporter Sezin Ceren Övüç describes the reaction from the scene in the October 27 evening bulletin from Turkey's SÖZCÜ Televizyonu.

Presented by Özlem Gürses, the broadcast reports operations targeting Bakırköy and Merkezefendi municipalities, with an on-screen headline stating that 58 people were detained. Bakırköy is on Istanbul's European side. The bulletin does not establish the specific allegations against each person detained.

Özgür Özel strongly criticizes the operations in footage played before the live report. He says he expected to wake up to a new party but instead woke up to an operation. The remark comes amid his own political transition: after leading the Republican People's Party, he left to establish the New Party in 2026.

The broadcast also reports that a request to release Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe has been rejected and that he remains in pretrial detention. These municipal proceedings occupy much of the opening coverage, alongside Gürses reading audience responses under the program's hashtag, "#koltukhesabı," roughly meaning calculations over political office.

Pensions provide another political thread. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is shown saying the government is creating the financial capacity to improve retirees' circumstances. The excerpt offers an assurance rather than a specific payment increase or implementation date.

Later, the bulletin reports three people placed in pretrial detention in a separate investigation discussed under Mustafa Sarıgül's name. Sarıgül appears denying that a money transfer took place. Courthouse correspondent Nedim Bayhan then reports on the first hearing in another case.

The upload is titled "Özlem Gürses ile Sözcü Ana Haber | 27 Ekim," meaning "The Sözcü main news bulletin with Özlem Gürses, October 27."