Protests Intensify As Detained Istanbul Mayor, Erdogan Rival Faces Police Questioning

By RFE/RL March 22, 2025

Thousands of supporters of detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on March 22 protested in front of the city's courthouse where the key rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was undergoing questioning over allegations of corruption and links to terror groups.

Imamoglu, 54, was detained by Turkish authorities days before he was expected to be nominated as the opposition candidate running in the scheduled 2028 presidential election, a move the European Union called "deeply concerning."

The Istanbul mayor was questioned for some five hours on March 22 into allegations of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to a report by the Cumhuriyet newspaper.

On March 21, he was questioned for four hours over the allegations of corruption.

According to documents seen by Reuters, Imamoglu answered at least 70 questions during his interrogation, denying all the charges.

"I see today during my interrogation that I and my colleagues are faced with unimaginable accusations and slanders," Imamoglu said, one document showed.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says the Istanbul mayor is among nearly 100 people, including businessmen and journalists, whose arrest warrants have been issued. The charges run the gamut from leading a criminal organization and extortion to bribery and illegally accessing personal data.

His arrest intensified political tensions and sparked protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in several cities to express support for Imamoglu.

Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters as the crowd in Istanbul tossed firecrackers and other objects at security personnel.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on social media that more than 340 people had been detained in protests in major cities.

"There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people's peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation," he said, naming the cities that included Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya, and Edirne.

Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), slammed Imamoglu's detention as an "attempted coup against our next president."

Several European countries voiced concern over the developments in Istanbul, saying they feared the consequences on democracy over the move.

"The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters in Brussels.

"Turkey must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials."

Many critics have said the arrest is politically motivated and an attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race.

The government rejects the accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated, insisting that the country's courts are independent entities.

Imamoglu tops Erdogan in some opinion polls and was set to be named the CHP's official presidential candidate in the coming days.

The next election is technically scheduled for 2028. However, Erdogan has reached his two-term limit as president after having earlier served as the country's prime minister.

If he seeks to run again, as expected, he must either call an early election or change the constitution.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-erdogan-istanbul- imamoglu-protest-chp/33356093.html

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Protests Intensify As Detained Istanbul Mayor, Erdogan Rival Faces Police Questioning