A Turkish court ruled on Sunday (23) for the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, while awaiting trial on corruption charges. The measure will probably ignite the country’s largest protests in over a decade.
The decision to send imamoglu to prison was made after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticized the actions against him, considering them politicized and undemocratic.
As events in the court unfolded, there were signs that the mayor’s problems were galvanizing the opposition against the Government of Erdogan, which governors Turkey 22 years ago.
Thousands of members and non-member of the People’s Republican Party (CHP) went to electoral sections across the country to elect Imamoglu as their candidate in a future presidential vote.
The non-member vote will be closely observed as an indicator of how much support the widely popular imamoglu enjoys beyond the party faithful.
Imamoglu called the accusations he faces “unimaginable slander” and summoned protests across the country on Sunday. “Let’s end this blow, this stain in our democracy, all together,” he said.
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The images showed what the broadcasters said they were being taken to Silivri’s arrest in a police train.
Imamoglu was removed from his duties, along with two other district mayors, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry.
The government denies that investigations have political motivation and states that the courts are independent.
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The ban on the streets across the country was extended on Saturday for another four days, but protests and clashes with police continued at night in major cities.
Thousands of people gathered outside the court at night and Sunday dawn, awaiting decisions about Imamoglu.
The court said that 54, and at least 20 others were arrested as part of an investigation of corruption, one of the two open against him last week.
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The court reported that he was arrested for “establishing and leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, diversion of funds, illegally registering personal data and defrauding public bids in connection with a financial investigation.”
The arrest occurs after a legal repression of months against opposition figures and the removal of other elected authorities from office, in what critics called an attempt by the government to harm their electoral perspectives.
