Turkish Authorities Detain Istanbul Mayor and Would-Be Presidential Contender

The Turkish authorities on March 19 detained Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and a would-be presidential candidate, on corruption and terrorism-related charges.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition party, of which Imamoglu is a leading member, decried his arrest as a “coup attempt against our next president.”

Imamoglu currently faces two separate criminal investigations that include allegations of bribery, tender rigging, and involvement in a criminal organization.

According to the Istanbul prosecutor’s office, 100 individuals—including several journalists and businessmen—are suspected of involvement in criminal activities related to tenders awarded by the Istanbul municipality.

As part of a second investigation, Imamoglu and six other people have been charged with aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Since the mid-1980s, the PKK has waged a violent insurgency against the Turkish state, carrying out numerous attacks—on military and civilian targets—resulting in thousands of deaths.

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Ankara, along with Brussels and Washington, regards the PKK as a terrorist group.

The terrorism-related charges against Imamoglu stem from the CHP’s cooperation with Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in the run-up to the 2024 municipal elections.

In last year’s municipal polls, CHP candidates won most of Turkey’s major cities, including Istanbul and capital Ankara, at the expense of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.

According to both the CHP and Imamoglu himself, all the charges against the latter—terrorism-related or otherwise—are politically motivated.

“The will of the people is being dealt a blow,” Imamoglu wrote in a post on social media platform X immediately after his detention.

The post was accompanied by a video message in which he said he would not bow in the face of pressure.

Meanwhile, Istanbul’s AK Party-affiliated regional governor has imposed a four-day citywide ban on demonstrations and large public gatherings.

According to the governor’s office, the ban is aimed at ensuring public order and preempting potential disturbances.

In the wake of Imamoglu’s arrest, Turkish authorities also reportedly limited access to a number of popular social media platforms, including X, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

In previous comments, Imamoglu had announced his intention to run in the CHP’s upcoming internal presidential primary, which he was widely expected to win.

A day before his arrest, Istanbul University abruptly revoked Imamoglu’s university degree, effectively precluding him from launching his planned presidential bid.

According to Daily Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, the decision to revoke his degree was due to his “illegitimate transfer to Istanbul University from another university.”

Having already won two terms as Istanbul mayor in 2019 and 2024, Imamoglu has long been seen as a potential challenger to Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey—as president and prime minister—for more than two decades.

In recent months, opposition-affiliated elected officials have faced a host of legal challenges.

Since last year’s municipal polls, two CHP-affiliated mayors—both in Turkey’s Istanbul province—were removed from their posts after being convicted of corruption and terrorism-related charges.

Within the same period, eight mayors in eastern Turkey—all of whom were affiliated with the DEM Party—were removed from office amid similar circumstances.

All had denied the charges leveled against them, claiming the convictions were politically motivated.

Last month, the European Parliament condemned what it called the “arbitrary dismissal and imprisonment of democratically elected mayors” by the Turkish authorities.

The AK Party-led government, however, dismisses the criticisms, insisting that Turkey’s judicial apparatus functions independently of the ruling party.

Reuters contributed to this report.