Erdogan's Main Political Opponent Arrested In Turkey
9- 19.03.2025, 12:33
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The mayor of Istanbul faces allegations of corruption and connections to terrorists.
In Turkey, 54-year-old Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the mayor of Istanbul, was arrested. According to Anadolu Agency, the authorities issued arrest warrants for about a hundred more individuals associated with the politician, including his press secretary and manager of the media company Medya AŞ Murat Ongun. The Istanbul prosecutor's office said that it was about investigating cases of corruption and terrorism.
As CNN clarifies, the arrests took place a few days before the primary elections of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), in which Imamoglu was expected to be nominated by the party as a presidential candidate. In addition to Ongun and Imamoglu, Istanbul Mayor Nejati Özkan, the head of the election campaign, was also detained. All detainees are charged with “forming a criminal organization, extortion, bribery, fraud, and conspiracy to bid.”
Previously, a number of city hall officials associated with Imamoglu inflated prices for the purchase of services from Medya A.Ş. and Kültür A.Ş (its manager Mahir Polat was also detained). The prosecutor's office believes that these companies received orders at a price much higher than their real value. We are also talking about cases of extortion and bribes. According to Sabah, several more journalists and businessmen are expected to be arrested. Medya AŞ has already been requested to provide the necessary documents to the investigation, and computers have been seized.
According to the prosecutor's office, İmamoğlu is also under investigation on suspicion of assisting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Union of Kurdistan Communities (UMC), which Ankara considers terrorist organizations.
After İmamoğlu's detention, the Istanbul authorities temporarily banned demonstrations in the city (until March 23) "in order to maintain public order." Some metro stations and roads in the center of Istanbul were blocked. According to NetBlocks, the country has limited access to the social network X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
In addition, on the eve of the Turkish authorities canceled İmamoğlu's university diploma, which may prevent him from competing with Erdogan in the upcoming presidential elections (according to the Turkish Constitution, only citizens with higher education can run for office). In 2024, he defeated the candidate chosen by the ruler of Turkey in the race for the post of mayor of Istanbul.
Imamoglu himself, in a video message in his X, said that “a handful of people trying to steal the will of the people” had sent police and security forces after him. “We are facing a great tyranny. But I want you to know that I will not give up,” he said.
A criminal investigation against Imamoglu was opened at the beginning of the year. At the same time, several opposition politicians were detained — the leader of the Zafer party, Umit Ozdag, the head of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, the head of the administration of the Istanbul district of Besiktas, Riza Akpolat.
Against the backdrop of new arrests, the Turkish lira collapsed, Bloomberg writes. On the international Forex market, the rate of the Turkish currency fell as of 10:40 Moscow time to a record 41.1 lira for $1. At the same time, the Borsa Istanbul 100 index at the opening fell by 6.9%, which led to the suspension of trading. After the reopening, the shares of the Turkish exchange fell by another 4.6%. Due to the fall in government bonds, their yield soared by 175 bps, to 29.94%.
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