ISTANBUL (AP) On Sunday, a court in Istanbul officially arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the city's mayor and a significant opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ordering him to be jailed while awaiting trial on corruption charges. Imamoglu's detention followed a raid on his home earlier that week, which triggered the most substantial wave of protests in Turkey in over ten years and intensified alarm over the state of democracy and rule of law in the nation.
Imamoglu's imprisonment is widely perceived as a politically motivated tactic to eliminate a formidable contender for the presidency in the upcoming elections scheduled for 2028. Although government officials deny that the legal actions against opposition figures are driven by political motives, they maintain that Turkey's judiciary acts independently.
The formal arrest of Imamoglu occurred simultaneously with the primary elections held by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). With Imamoglu as the party's sole candidate, the primary, announced last month, served as a symbolic gesture of support. The CHP has initiated "solidarity boxes" across the country to enable non-party members to express their backing for the detained mayor.
Following the announcement of Imamoglu's arrest, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, a fellow member of the CHP, criticized the proceedings and highlighted the embarrassment felt regarding the transparency of Turkey’s legal system. Yavas noted the irony that the public learned details of the allegations from media reports rather than through proper legal channels.
The Council of Europe, which is dedicated to promoting human rights and democracy, condemned the decision to imprison Imamoglu, calling for his immediate release. Marc Cools, the head of the Council's congress of local authorities, emphasized their disapproval of the situation.
Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of a biography on Erdogan, referred to Imamoglu's arrest as an extreme measure by Erdogan against a formidable competitor. Cagaptay remarked that with Imamoglu consistently outperforming Erdogan in various presidential polls, Erdogan appears intent on meticulously dismantling Imamoglu’s political career.
Cagaptay noted that the current international environment, with the European Union keen on fostering positive relations with Turkey amid security concerns involving Russia and the United States focusing on domestic matters, has allowed Erdogan to operate without fear of external criticism.
Prior to his arrest, Imamoglu faced numerous criminal cases that could yield prison sentences and inhibit his political ambitions. Furthermore, he was appealing a conviction from 2022 for insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council. Recently, a university nullified his diploma due to alleged irregularities from his past educational transfers, effectively disqualifying him from running for president as such a position mandates university graduation.
Imamoglu first gained his position as the mayor of Istanbul in March 2019—a significant setback for Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which had maintained control over Istanbul for a quarter-century. Challenging claims of electoral fraud by the AKP led to a re-election that Imamoglu won convincingly just months later. He retained his leadership in the subsequent local elections, during which the CHP made notable gains against Erdogan’s party.
