New deputy mayor Sarıoğlu in Üsküdar: relative earned 168 million TL from 6 public tenders

Following the arrest of Üsküdar Municipality Mayor Sinem Dedetaş and the subsequent death of acting deputy mayor Dündar Ziya Gültekin in a traffic accident, a new deputy mayor election was held yesterday.

The Yeni Parti did not participate in the election citing detention and arrest proceedings against municipality council members; the CHP also put forward no candidate. AKP's Muhammed Emin Sarıoğlu was elected deputy mayor in the third round of voting as the sole candidate. Members of Yeni Parti staged a protest demonstration in front of the municipality building during the election.

According to information, Sarıoğlu began his political career in 2016 as a member of the AKP Üsküdar District Executive Board; he served as district vice chairman between 2018 and 2023 and was elected to the municipal council in 2024. Sarıoğlu was also appointed to the board of directors of Boydak Holding, to which a trustee was assigned by TMSF. Iras Yapı, among whose founders he figures, took on the restoration of the Maiden's Tower.

A company belonging to Sarıoğlu's relative, Muhammed Fatih Sarıoğlu, earned a total of 168 million 111 thousand TL from 6 public tenders, including the renovation of Hagia Sophia toilets and projects involving the Boyacı Mosque, Tekke Mosque, and Mevlevihane Museum in Gaziantep.