Turkey is moving to silence in the Erdogan rival prison by blocking the account of x

Access to the social media account for the closed mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been blocked by authorities in Turkey.

Imamoglu, who is the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, can no longer send messages to Turkey to his 9.7 million X. His account is still available abroad.

His social media issue is his main tool for communicating with his supporters and maintaining attention.

He published daily by sending messages from prison through his lawyers. “It is as if the authorities want to make him disappear,” said a commentator.

The Republican People’s Party of Imamoglu (CHP) – the main opposition party in Turkey – told the BBC that blocking his account was a continuation of “attempted coup on March 19” when he was arrested.

“” Now they will not even let him speak to the public, “CHP Secretary General Celine Sayek Boke said.” This clearly shows the fear of the authorities that they will lose power. This is an attempt to coup against the next Urna. “

Public opinion polls suggest that Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been elected mayor in the largest city in Turkey three times, will win a presidential election if he can stand.

The next presidential election should not be held until 2028.

A message on his account on Thursday said it was blocked due to legal demand, although it was still available in Turkey with the use of a virtual private network (VPN).

A lawyer representing X said he had filed a court challenge to the ban at the request of the social media platform.

Istanbul prosecutors are investigating a position on the Imamoglu account, on the basis that it may be an incitement to commit a crime, according to the President’s Communication Office.

In this post last month, the mayor condemned his arrest and broader repression of the opposition and called on the nation to complain and “raise your voice”.

Some X users have replaced the photos of their mayor image, including YUSUF CAN, an analyst at the Wilson Center Middle East Program in Washington.

“Elon Musk blocked the mayor of hostages and the presidential candidate, at the request of Erdogan – a silence of the country’s most famous opposition voice. We are all Imamoglu,” he said.

The mayor has been behind the bars of March on accusations of corruption, which he denied.

He was kept in the high -security prison of Marmara in Silimri, on the outskirts of the city where he was chosen to run.

He has many company – about 100 people have been arrested with him – including city officials and members of his party. Since then, dozens have been arrested, including his lawyers, and lawyers acting for these lawyers.

Human rights groups claim that arrests are part of an accelerating attack on civil society in Turkey.

Imamoglu supporters say the allegations against him were politically motivated and that the courts of Turkey were armed. The government said the judiciary was independent.

In his last post on Wednesday, Imamoglu called on the supporters to join a protest rally in Istanbul that evening.

He has been one of the biggest in recent weeks with tens of thousands appeared.

His arrest in March has sparked the largest anti-government protests in Turkey for more than a decade.

The protests were largely peaceful, but about 2000 people were arrested in just a few days, many students.

The demonstrations continue in Istanbul and across the country, but the numbers are less.