Former CHP mayor admits paying party chair Özgür Özel and bribing delegates

Özkan Yalım, the former mayor of Uşak for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told investigators he paid TL 1.2 million ($26,000) to party chair Özgür Özel and bribed delegates to secure Özel's election in November 2023. Yalım's testimony was made public on Tuesday, May 13, 2026.

Yalım said he handed Demirhan Gözaçan, an associate of Özel, another TL 1 million in Denizli. He also admitted using municipal vehicles and staff for his private business, and confessed to creating fictitious job positions at the municipality for players of Uşakspor and their spouses. Yalım further claimed that the conversion of a Mercedes vehicle used by Özel, costing approximately 170,000 euros ($199,215), was paid by the Uşak Municipality. He alleged the payment was concealed within the conversion invoice of another municipal vehicle.

In his statement, Yalım said he had a relationship with municipality employee Ebru Yurtuluğ and that special woven carpets belonging to the municipality were taken to their shared house without payment. He also said the relationship was influential in her being hired. Yalım was expelled from the CHP after his arrest in Ankara on corruption charges.

CHP chair Özgür Özel said Yalım "cheated" them by claiming he would pay for the vehicle conversion out of his own pocket. Özel did not respond to other allegations. Yalım's testimony follows similar admissions by Muhittin Böcek, the former mayor of Antalya, who acknowledged paying the party's administration to secure candidacy in a past election.