site.btaIstanbul Mayor Is Detained in Corruption and Terrorism Links Probe, Arrest Sparks Outrage at Home and Abroad

The Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoglu, and several other senior members of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) were detained early this morning. The arrests come just days before the opposition party was expected to officially nominate İmamoglu as its presidential candidate. The CHP will hold primaries on Sunday, March 23, to elect its presidential nominee, and İmamoglu was widely considered the most likely choice. He had unofficially announced his candidacy earlier this month.

According to Turkish media outlets, among the detainees are the Mayor of Sisli district, Resul Emrah Sahan, the Mayor of Beylikduzu, Mehmet Murat Calık, and İmamoglu’s press officer Murat Ongun.

Police searched İmamoglu’s home early this morning and took him to the police station.

According to Turkish media outlets, the arrests were based on investigations by the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office into "corruption, bribery, and collaboration with terrorists" against the Istanbul Mayor and numerous others.

"The evidence points to illicit gains, money laundering, and hidden financial channels," reads a statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, quoted by private broadcaster CNN Turk.

The charges relate to the period when İmamoglu was the Mayor of Beylikduzu district. Authorities allege that he built a loyal network in Istanbul by rigging tenders, taking bribes, and pressuring the judicial system.

The investigation into alleged cooperation with terrorists centers around suspicions that the municipality made arrangements with the political wing of the PKK. There are claims that İmamoglu "forged an alliance" with the group prior to last year's local elections, allowing its members to gain influence in the city administration, according to NTV.

The leader of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, commented that the CHP is facing an "institutional attack." The opposition newspaper BirGun reported that municipal employees from Istanbul's Sisli district left their workplaces and protested outside the district municipality building in response to the police operation, which resulted in the arrest of Mayor Resul Emrah Sahan along with other opposition mayors and senior CHP officials.

Protesters chanted, "Mayor Resul is not alone!", "Mayor Ekrem is not alone!" and "Detentions, arrests, and repression will not scare us!", BirGün reports.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkiye Director of Human Rights Watch, condemned the detention of İmamoglu and other senior CHP officials, calling it a blatant abuse of the judicial system, Reuters reported. 

Words of support for Imamoglu came from the French Foreign Ministry, whose spokesman said that the arrest could have grave consequences for Turkish democracy. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin called it "a step backwards" for Turkiye. The Council of Europe condemned the arrests as a move against the will of the people. The mayors of Athens and Thessaloniki also voiced support for the Istanbul mayor in social media posts.

In the wake of the Wednesday arrests, the Turkish lira crashed by 12% to an all-time low of 42 to the dollar. 

Access to several social media platforms, including X, TikTok, and Instagram, was partially restricted in Turkey this morning.

Imamoglu's arrest came a day after Istanbul University announced annulling İmamoglu’s diploma in line with a move by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office questioning the legitimacy of his higher education credentials.

According to Turkish media, İmamoglu studied at the American University of Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus before transferring to Istanbul University to study Management.

The investigation concluded that the university in Northern Cyprus was not accredited - and the diploma of Imamoglu and 28 others were cancelled. 

"The mayor, Ekrem İmamoglu, is the victim, not the perpetrator. The actions taken are political, not legal," CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, told Turkish media.

In the first statement he made after the cancellation of his diploma was announced, İmamoglu said, "I will not give up." "If I was running for thousands of people until now, I will now run for millions. Our goal is to change this corrupt order together," he said, as quoted by the Haberturk website.

Sources from the CHP told the ANKA news agency that despite the diploma cancellation, they would not back down from the plan to hold primaries to determine the CHP presidential candidate this coming Sunday. Currently, İmamoglu is the only candidate and even started his campaign in Izmir and Bursa.

At a meeting of the CHP Central Executive Committee, it was decided to continue the process of appealing the Istanbul prosecutor's office procedure to annul Imamoglu's diploma.

The diploma cancellation and the subsequent actions have caused public concern and have deepened the clash between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the CHP.

In light of the diploma crisis, the opposition predicts a high voter turnout in the Sunday primaries: it expects around 1 million people to turn out and vote.

İmamoglu’s lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, announced that they would take the diploma issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

"Since this process is aimed at preventing İmamoglu’s candidacy for president, criminal complaints will be filed against anyone involved in this illegal action and interfering with the democratic electoral process," he said to the T24 website.

However, according to pro-government media, the diploma crisis will complicate İmamoglu's presidential bid.

In Turkiye, presidential candidates are expected to have a university degree.

Turkiye is due to have presidential elections in May 2028 but CHP and other opposition parties have recently been calling for early elections, arguing that the current presidential system is unable to address the country's economic woes. The ruling AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have repeatedly stated that the elections will take place as scheduled.

In recent months, however, there has been media speculations that in 2027 the president may schedule early election, possibly in March 2028, to secure a chance to be re-elected without requiring a constitutional change.

Earlier this year, the spokesperson of the ruling AKP, Omer Celik, said that the possibility of President Erdogan running again is "on the agenda for discussion" and that a possible "formula" for this will be considered, according to Turkish media.

Under the Turkish constitution, Erdogan cannot run in the 2028 presidential elections. However, the law allows an exception for a president in their second and final term if Parliament calls early elections.

In the local elections of March 31 last year, Erdogan's ruling AKP lost the national elections for the first time since coming to power in 2002, with the CHP emerging victorious. AKP also suffered defeats in many of the country’s largest cities, including Istanbul and Ankara.