ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a well-liked opposition chief and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other different outstanding figures as a part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror hyperlinks. It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkey.
The state-run Anadolu Company stated prosecutors issued warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and a few 100 different individuals. Amongst these detained was Imamoglu’s shut aide, Murat Ongun and two district mayors.
Authorities additionally closed a number of roads round Istanbul and banned demonstrations within the metropolis for 4 days in an obvious effort to forestall protests following the arrest.
Critics say the crackdown follows important losses by Erdogan’s ruling get together in native elections final 12 months amid rising requires early nationwide elections. Authorities officers insist that the courts function independently and reject claims that authorized actions in opposition to opposition figures are politically motivated.
“We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged,” Imamoglu stated earlier within the day in a video put up on social media.
Germany criticized the arrests, with International Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer describing them as “a serious setback for democracy.”
Folks gathered later Wednesday close to Istanbul’s police headquarters, carrying posters of the mayor and banners together with his picture round their shoulders. Others chanted slogans and raised their fists within the air as riot police cordoned off the ability.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc informed reporters the arrests had nothing to do with the federal government. “Linking investigations and cases initiated by the judiciary to our President is, at best, presumptuous and inappropriate,” he stated.
The backdrop
Erdogan, a populist with more and more authoritarian tendencies, has led Turkey as prime minister or president for greater than 20 years. His present time period runs till 2028 however he has indicated he’d prefer to serve longer — one thing he might obtain with a constitutional change or if early elections are known as.
The Istanbul Inventory Alternate’s essential index dropped by 7% over the information, triggering a short lived halt in buying and selling to forestall panic promoting and stabilize the market. Buying and selling later resumed however was once more halted within the afternoon. The Turkish lira misplaced some 7% of its worth in opposition to the greenback.
Anadolu, the information company, stated that Ekrem Imamoglu and several other others are suspected of a large number of economic irregularities.
Imamoglu can also be suspected of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Employees’ Get together, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella group for the Istanbul municipal elections, the company stated. The PKK, behind a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey, is designated a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and different allies.
Imamoglu’s spouse, Dilek, informed the non-public Now tv that police arrived at their residence round daybreak and that the mayor was taken round 7:30 a.m.
Silencing the opposition
A day earlier, Istanbul College invalidated Imamoglu’s diploma, successfully disqualifying him from the following presidential race — a college diploma is a requisite for working in elections beneath Turkish regulation.
The mayor’s get together — the principle opposition Republican Folks’s Get together, or CHP — was to carry a major on Sunday the place he was anticipated to be chosen for its candidate in future presidential elections.
With all of the arrests Wednesday, that vote was doubtful however get together chairman Ozgur Ozel stated it could go forward as deliberate.
In a social media put up in English, Imamoglu stated he stands “resolute, entrusting myself not only to the 16 million residents of Istanbul but to the 86 million citizens” of Turkey.
Lots of additionally gathered exterior CHP’s headquarters in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, because the get together’s lawmakers protested contained in the parliament, disrupting proceedings earlier than marching out.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Get together condemned the detentions and known as for the quick launch of all taken into custody.
Imamoglu’s arrest was a “disgrace that will not be forgotten for centuries. This operation, which shatters faith in justice, is an attempt to redesign politics through the judiciary,” Tulay Hatimogullari, the get together’s co-chairwoman, wrote on X.
Amnesty Worldwide stated Imamoglu’s detention marked an escalation in Turkey’s crackdown on the opposition.
“While the weaponization of vague anti-terrorism allegations to detain and prosecute opponents is not new, these latest detentions and associated restrictions represent an alarming intensification of the targeting of real or perceived critics,” stated Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty’s deputy director for Europe.
Ongun, the mayor’s aide, appealed for help on X whilst he himself was being arrested, although on the time he apparently didn’t know that Imamoglu was additionally being taken into custody.
“I entrust Ekrem Imamoglu to the Turkish nation. Protect, watch over and support him. They cannot be defeat the nation,” Ongun stated.
Individually, police additionally detained a outstanding investigative journalist, Ismail Saymaz, for questioning, the opposition-aligned Halk TV reported.
In the meantime, internet-access advocacy group netblocks.org reported Wednesday that entry has been restricted in Turkey to fashionable social media platforms.
Authorized obstacles
In nullifying Imamoglu’s diploma, the college cited alleged irregularities in his 1990 switch from a personal college in northern Cyprus to its enterprise school, a call Imamoglu stated he would problem.
Later Wednesday, college students on the college held a protest to denounce Imamoglu’s arrest. No violence was instantly reported.
Imamoglu faces a number of lawsuits, together with allegations of making an attempt to affect a judicial skilled investigating opposition-led municipalities. The circumstances might lead to jail sentences and a political ban.
He’s additionally interesting a 2022 conviction of insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that might lead to a political ban.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest metropolis in March 2019, a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Growth Get together, which had managed Istanbul for a quarter-century. The get together pushed to void the municipal election ends in the town of 16 million, alleging irregularities.
The problem resulted in a repeat of the election a number of months later, which Imamoglu additionally received. The mayor retained his seat following native elections final 12 months, throughout which his get together made important features in opposition to Erdogan’s governing get together.
Go Advert-Free — And Defend The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to cover these messages.
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Related Press writers Lorian Belanger in Bangkok and Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkey, contributed to this report.
