Drug Tests Come Back Positive for 171 Keçiören Municipality Employees

A drug-screening program at Ankara’s Keçiören Municipality produced positive initial results for 171 employees, according to a police record cited in an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The municipality introduced the voluntary testing program to determine whether employees used drugs, citing goals that included improving service standards, providing better services to residents, and protecting occupational health and safety. Documents said employees gave explicit consent for screening for drugs and stimulants.

The tests were conducted by Delta Analiz ve Laboratuvar Hizmetleri A.Ş., selected after the municipality examined organizations accredited by TÜRKAK. Of the 171 employees who initially tested positive, 42 later received negative results. The investigation file included separate lists of employees with positive initial results and those whose readings later fell to negative levels.

Following inquiries by the Ankara Narcotics Crime Branch, the case was transferred to the prosecutor’s Smuggling and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau. Prosecutors requested proceedings under Article 191 of Turkey’s Penal Code against people who tested positive or were found to have used drugs. They also ordered statements and the collection of blood, hair and urine samples under Article 75 of the Criminal Procedure Code to determine whether drugs had been used and identify the substance.

On June 2, 2026, the prosecutor’s office sent a follow-up letter to Ankara police, urging faster correspondence with the municipality and other institutions and the prompt completion of legal procedures. The letter cited concerns that biological evidence of drug use becomes harder to detect over time.