Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained following a raid on his residence earlier this week, sparking the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade. It also deepened concerns over democracy and rule of law in Turkey.
His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.
Government officials refuted accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
The prosecutor’s office announced the court decided to jail Imamoglu on suspicion of running a criminal organization, accepting bribes, extortion, illegally recording personal data and bid-rigging. A request for him to be imprisoned on terror-related charges was rejected.
In his first response after the court ruling, Imamoglu said that he will not bow down.
“We will, hand in hand, uproot this blow, this black stain on our democracy… I am standing tall, I will not bow down,” the Istanbul mayor wrote on X.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated Sunday that 343 people were detained the previous evening over disturbances at protests. Largely peaceful protests across Turkey have seen hundreds of thousands come out in support of Imamoglu.
However, there has been some violence, with police deploying water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and firing plastic pellets at demonstrators in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, some of whom hurled stones, fireworks and other missiles at riot police.
The formal arrest came as more than 1.5 million members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Imamoglu as its presidential candidate. With Imamoglu as the sole candidate, the primary — announced last month — was largely a symbolic show of support.
The party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide to allow people who are not party members to express their support for the mayor. Large crowds gathered early Sunday to cast a “solidarity ballot.”
Before his detention, Imamoglu had already faced multiple criminal cases that could result in prison sentences and a political ban. He was also appealing a 2022 conviction for insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.
Earlier in the week, a university nullified his diploma, citing alleged irregularities in his transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus some 30 years ago. The decision effectively bars him from running for president, since the position requires candidates to be university graduates. Imamoglu had vowed to challenge the decision.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019, in a major blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Erdogan’s 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 the CHP made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.
