Mayor of Istanbul and Erdogan’s presidential rival

The mayor of Istanbul was detained as part of a Turkish corruption investigation – just days before he was elected presidential candidate.

Ekrem Imamoglu of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) is regarded as one of the most powerful political rivals of Turkish President Taip Erdogan.

Prosecutors say he has been accused of being “suspected of the leader of the criminal organization.”

Authorities detained 100 suspects – including other politicians, journalists and businessmen – as part of the investigation, and the office of Istanbul governor imposed a four -day restrictions in the city.

Imamoglu wrote on social media that “the will of people cannot be muted.”

In a video published online, he vowed to “stand decisive” for people from Turkey “and everyone who maintains democracy and justice around the world.”

“I am firmly in my fight for fundamental rights and freedoms,” Imamoglu added.

In recent months, arrest has come as part of a major repression of opposition figures across the country.

Critics condemned moves as politically motivated. But Erdogan, in power for 22 years, and his party denied the allegations, insisting that Turkey’s judicial system was independent.

Last year, Imamoglu won a second term As mayor of Istanbul, when his CHP party swept the local elections there in Ankara.

Erdogan came to power for the first time, his party defeated throughout the urn country.

The election was also a personal blow to the president, who grew up and became mayor of Istanbul at his rise in power.

Dozens of police officers were involved in the early morning attack at Imamoglu’s house in Turkey’s largest city.

The election of CHP president, in which Imamoglu is the only candidate, will be held on Sunday.

The day has come after the University of Istanbul has canceled its diploma due to suspected irregularities – a decision that, if maintained, will prevent him from running in the presidential election.

According to the Turkish constitution, presidents must have completed higher education to hold a position.

Imamoglu called this move “legally unfounded”, adding that universities “must remain independent, without political intervention and dedicated to knowledge.”

His CHP party characterizes the latest interventions against him as a “coup attempt” to “prevent the nation from defining the next president.”

The Party President Ozgur Ezelle wrote to X that making decisions on behalf of people, replacing their will or using power to prevent it, amounts to a coup.

His deputy chairman, Ilhan Uzgel, has accused the government of using the detention as a “intimidation tool” of Turkey’s opposition.

He told the BBC that his party was “very concerned about the state of democracy in Turkey as a whole”.

The pro -government media reports that, as he is accused of blackmail and fraud, Imamoglu claims to have assisted PKK.

PKK – or Kurdistan Workers’s Party – has led a rebel since 1984 and is prescribed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Following the mass detention on Wednesday, Istanbul Governor ordered a four -day ban on all demonstrations, meetings and press releases in Istanbul to maintain “public order” and stop “possible provocative actions”.

Many streets in Istanbul are also closed to traffic, while some subway lines have also canceled their services.

And reports suggest that employees have seriously limited access to social media sites such as X, YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok after arrests.

This is not the first time Imamoglu has been faced with legal problems.

In 2022, He was sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison For the insult of civil servants in speech.