Arrested Menderes Mayor İlkay Çiçek Resigns from CHP: 'I Have Been Tainted by My Party'

Menderes Mayor İlkay Çiçek, who was detained in a dawn operation on August 4, 2026, and subsequently arrested, submitted his resignation letter to the CHP. Detained in an investigation conducted by the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Çiçek argued in his letter that the WhatsApp messages cited as grounds for his detention were "forged documents understood to have been produced on the same day," and stated that he had previously applied to the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding this matter.

Çiçek's harshest criticism was directed at CHP headquarters: he alleged that he was referred to the disciplinary board with a request for expulsion before any final court decision had been rendered, and that this step was taken without his defense being heard. He used the phrase "I have been tainted by the party for which I worked."

Çiçek also alleged that some Menderes Municipal Council members had likewise been "discarded." Menderes is one of the coastal districts of Izmir; the mayoral office will be administered temporarily until the legal process is concluded.