“View of Türkiye damaged”
Decognized Erdoğan opponent speaks up
23.03.2025 – 01:27 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu rejects accusations against himself. President Erdoğan’s political opponent was arrested on Wednesday.
The Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu arrested has rejected all allegations involved in the investigation against him. “The immoral and baseless accusations raised against me, the reports that rang from invented reports to the time of the investigation, aim to undermine my reputation and credibility,” said İmamoğlu after a survey on the police station for several hours, according to a message from the city administration.
The action against him not only damaged Turkey’s international reputation, but also the feeling of justice for the Turkish public and the trust in the economy, the 53-year-old said.
İmamoğlu was arrested on Wednesday. Specifically, the allegations are concerned with suspicion of membership in a criminal association, extortion, bribery, fraud, manipulation of tender and support for the forbidden Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, as reported by the state news agency Anadolu.
After the survey at the police station, İmamoğlu was still transferred to a court on Saturday. There he made a statement to the public prosecutor in the evening. He should also be shown to a judge for the statement. It is uncertain whether this will follow the arrangement of a pre -trial detention.
After the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu, the fourth evening in a row in Turkey took the street to protest. In Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other Turkish cities, demonstration marches started in the evening, as local media and observers reported. Thousands of participants could be seen on pictures of the Anka news agency from a meeting in Istanbul.
The use of pepper spray against demonstrators was again reported from Istanbul and Ankara. Protests from various parts of the country had also been reported during the day.
