Türkiye: Justice arrested Erdogan-contrary Ekrem Imamoglu

A few days before his planned appointment as presidential candidate in the largest opposition party in Türkiye, the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested. This was confirmed by the German Press Agency from the environment of the important opponent by head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The governor of the province of Istanbul also imposed a four-day demonstration, meeting and news lock until Sunday. After the arrest of Imamoglu, the Internet observation organization NetBlocks reported that access to several online platforms in Turkey was restricted. This included X, YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok. After the arrest, several streets have been blocked in the metropolis. According to the governor’s office, selected roads remain closed for four days, and several train stations are closed.

The most important political competitor of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be accused of leading a criminal association, bribery, manipulation of tenders and supporting a terrorist organization on Wednesday.

The Istanbul public prosecutor said that two procedures were involved in the investigation against Imamoglu. On the one hand, it is the allegation of criminal activities in connection with the city administration tenders in which 100 people are involved. These include journalists and business people. In the second case, Imamoglu and six other people are accused of supporting the prohibited Kurdish workers’ party PKK, which is classified by Turkey as a terrorist organization.

Imamoglu released a video in the morning on platform X, in which he spoke of hundreds of police officers at the front door. “We are in the face of a great tyranny,” he wrote. But he won’t give up. Several television stations reported that the police had gained access to Imamoglus estate and searched the building.

Imamoglu actually wanted to officially appoint the largest opposition party Chp on Sunday as her candidate for the next regular presidential election in 2028.

The procedure of the law enforcement authorities against Imamoglu had already announced. It became known on Tuesday that the Istanbul University revealed the university degree. This is a prerequisite for candidacy for the presidency. The background to the cancellation is said to be an allegedly illegal change of university.

Imamoglu said he wanted to go to court against the decision, but had lost confidence in fair judgments. In a number of other procedures, he threatens prisoners and political bans.

His lawyer Kemal Polat had told the German press agency before the arrest warrant became known that Imamoglu could only compete as a presidential candidate if all legal processes were exhausted against the decision.

The chairman of the CHP, Özgür Özel, spoke of a political decision and a coup attempt and a decisive moment for the future of Turkish democracy. The people should be prevented from determining the next president themselves. He called on the 1.7 million party members to take part in the party-internal election of the CHP top candidate despite the arrest on Sunday.

The Turkish economy seems sensitive to the arrest imamoglus. Trading on the stock exchange in Istanbul was temporarily suspended on Wednesday morning after the leading index crashed by almost seven percent. According to media reports, trade was resumed, but the stock exchange website was initially unavailable.

The value of the Turkish lira also collapsed. The exchange rate rose to 40 lira for a dollar and 42 lira for one euro. In the meantime, he had ever reached the weakest course with 44.7 lira per euro.

Note: This article has been updated and further information was added.