Police arrest Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, over alleged corruption and terror links

Istanbul Mayor and Republican People's Party, or CHP, candidate Ekrem Imamoglu take photographs with supporters during a campaign rally in Istanbul, Turkiye, Thursday, March 21, 2024.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

ISTANBUL — Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkiye.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and some 100 other people. Among those detained was Imamoglu’s close aide, Murat Ongun.

Authorities also closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest. Private NTV television said two Istanbul district mayors were among those detained.

Critics say the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan’s ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections. Government officials insist that the courts operate independently and reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.

“We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged,” Imamoglu said earlier in the day in a video post on social media.

The backdrop

Erdogan, a populist with increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has led Turkiye as prime minister or president for more than 20 years and is now the longest-serving leader in the Turkish republic’s history. His current term runs until 2028 but he has indicated he’d like to serve longer — something he could achieve with the help of a friendly parliament.

Imamoglu was arrested as police searched his home, but it wasn’t immediately clear if anything was confiscated. His wife, Dilek Imamoglu, told the private Now television that police arrived at their residence before dawn and that the mayor was taken around 7:30 a.m.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange’s main index dropped by seven per cent over news of his arrest, triggering a temporary halt to trading to prevent panic selling and stabilize the market. The Turkish lira lost some seven per cent of its value against the dollar.

Anadolu, the news agency, said that Ekrem Imamoglu and several others are suspected of extortion, money laundering and irregularities concerning tenders and procurements, among other crimes.

Imamoglu is also suspected of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella organization for the Istanbul municipal elections, the report said. The PKK has waged a decadeslong insurgency within Turkiye and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and other allies.

Silencing the opposition

A day earlier, Istanbul University invalidated Imamoglu’s diploma, effectively disqualifying him from running in the next presidential race — a university degree is a requisite for running in elections under Turkish law.

The mayor’s party — the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP — was to hold a primary on Sunday where Imamoglu was expected to be chosen for its candidate in future presidential elections.

With all the arrests Wednesday, that vote was in doubt but party chairman Ozgur Ozel told the opposition-aligned Halik TV channel that it would go ahead as planned. Ozel said Imamoglu’s detention was “an attempted coup against our next president.”

In a social media post in English, Imamoglu said: “The will of the people cannot be silenced through intimidation or unlawful acts. I stand resolute, entrusting myself not only to the 16 million residents of Istanbul but to the 86 million citizens” of Turkiye.

Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party condemned the detentions and called for the immediate release of all taken into custody.

The dawn raid on Imamoglu’s home and his 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 party’s co-chairwoman, wrote on X.

As he was being arrested, Ongun, the mayor’s aide, appealed for support on X, though he at the time did not appear to know that the mayor was also being taken into custody.

“They think they can silence us and prevent us from defending and supporting Ekrem Imamoglu,” Ongun said. “I entrust Ekrem Imamoglu to the Turkish nation. Protect, watch over and support him. They cannot be defeat the nation.”

Separately, police also detained a prominent investigative journalist, Ismail Saymaz, for questioning, the opposition-aligned Halk TV reported.

Meanwhile, internet-access advocacy group netblocks.org reported Wednesday that access has been restricted in Turkiye to popular social media platforms.

Legal obstacles

In nullifying Imamoglu’s diploma, the university cited alleged irregularities in his 1990 transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus to its Faculty of Business Administration. Imamoglu said he would challenge the decision.

Imamoglu faces multiple lawsuits, including allegations of trying to influence a judicial expert investigating opposition-led municipalities. The cases could result in prison sentences and a political ban.

He is also appealing a 2022 conviction of insulting members of Turkiye’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that could result in a political ban.

Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkiye’s largest city in March 2019 in a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. The 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 his party made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.

Devlet Bahceli, an Erdogan ally from the Nationalist Movement Party, slammed the opposition on X, saying Wednesday that to “oppose the judiciary and law, even to debate it, is an invitation to discord and violence” and adding it was “important to accept whatever decision was made by the courts.”

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkiye. Associated Press writers Lorian Belanger in Bangkok and Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkiye, contributed to this report.

Mehmet Guzel And Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press