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The March 19 detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is
the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year
rule, saw hundreds of thousands of people flood the streets of
Turkish cities to protest what many consider a politically
motivated case. The government insists Turkey’s judicial system
is independent.
In a statement, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office
said simultaneous operations were conducted against 53 suspects,
six of whom remain at large. Searches were continuing at homes
and workplaces, it added.
Demonstrations against Imamoglu’s jailing and wider democratic
backsliding saw more than 2,000 people arrested for taking part
in banned protests last month. Many of them were students but
journalists and trades unionists were also among the detainees.
Imamoglu, who also faces terror-related charges in a parallel
investigation launched last month, was nominated the
presidential candidate for his Republican People’s Party, or
CHP, while in prison. Elections are due in 2028 but could come
earlier.
The cases against him, which include several others that
pre-date the March investigations, could see him banned from
politics.
The CHP-supporting Cumhuriyet newspaper reported that Saturday’s
arrests included the deputy secretary general of Istanbul
municipality, Imamoglu’s private secretary and the head of the
city’s water company. Gokhan Gunaydin, a senior CHP lawmaker,
said the municipality was being “effectively rendered
inoperable” by the arrests.
The wife of Imamoglu’s adviser was also detained Saturday. The
adviser was among some 100 arrested in March’s wave of arrests
and remains in prison.
Demonstrations against what the opposition calls the “March 19
coup” are continuing, although on a smaller scale. Ankara
governor’s office said Saturday that 30 people were arrested at
a protest the previous evening. The CHP was due to hold a rally
later Saturday in the Mediterranean city of Mersin.
The party won a swath of major cities in 2019 local elections,
making further gains in last year’s polls. In Istanbul,
Imamoglu’s victory ended 25 years of control for Erdogan’s party
and its predecessors.
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