Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained after a raid on his home earlier this week sparking the largest wave of protests in Turkey in over a decade
Violent protests swept across Turkey after the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor on allegations of corruption.
Ekrem Imamoglu, 53, the main rival to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 71, was formally held and quizzed over alleged links to terror organisations. Imamoglu – who is the frontrunner to lead the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) – denied the claims and said they are politically motivated.
As he was held in custody pending a trial, he vowed: “I will never bow.” His detention sparked the largest protests in more than a decade, which Erdogan has condemned as trying “disturb the peace and polarise our people”.
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In Ankara, protestors blocked Atatürk Boulevard and clashed with anti riot police using tear gas and water cannons.Plain clothes police officers were also seen detaining a protester, while rubber bullets were also reportedly fired during tense stand-offs over the weekend.
Imamoglu was one of more than 100 people, including other politicians, journalists and businessmen, detained as part of an investigation last week. He was arrested following a raid on his home earlier this week. Alongside Imamoglu, 47 other people were also jailed pending trial, including a key aide and two district mayors from Istanbul, one of whom was replaced with a government appointee. A further 44 suspects were released under judicial control.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Sunday that 323 people were detained the previous evening over disturbances at protests. On Sunday, Imamoglu was formally arrested and charged with “establishing and managing a criminal organisation, taking bribes, extortion, unlawfully recording personal data and rigging a tender”.
Prosecutors want to charge him with “aiding an armed terrorist organisation”, but the Turkish court said it was “not deemed necessary at this stage” to do so. The Interior Ministry later announced that Imamoglu had been suspended from duty as a “temporary measure.” The municipality had previously appointed an acting mayor from its governing council.
The CHP had a de facto alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) in connection with last year’s local elections. DEM has been accused of being affiliated with the PKK – or Kurdistan Workers’ Party – which it denies. The PKK declared a ceasefire early this month, after waging an insurgency against Turkey for more than 40 years. It is proscribed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, UK and US.
Imamoglu is seen as one of Erdogan’s most formidable political rivals. He is the only person running in the CHP’s presidential candidate selection. The party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide to allow people who are not party members to express their support for the mayor. Large crowds gathered early Sunday to cast a “solidarity ballot.”
“This is no longer just a problem of the Republican People’s Party, but a problem of Turkish democracy,” Fusun Erben, 69, said at a polling station in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district. “We do not accept our rights being so easily usurped. We will fight until the end.”
A day before his arrest, Istanbul University announced it was revoking Imamoglu’s degree due to alleged irregularities, a measure – which if upheld – would put his ability to run as president into doubt. According to the Turkish constitution, presidents must have completed higher education to hold office. Imamoglu had vowed to challenge the decision.
His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject the accusations and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
In a message posted on social media, Imamoglu called on people to show “their struggle for democracy and justice to the entire world” at the ballot box. He warned Erdogan that he would be defeated by “our righteousness, our courage, our humility, our smiling face.”
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019, in a major blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities. The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won. The mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which the CHP made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.