Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens protested nationwide after authorities detained Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor and a major rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming presidential election.
Riot police immediately deployed tear gas after Imamoğlu’s arrest to disperse the crowd. As tensions rose, demonstrations spread to other cities, including the capital of Turkey, Ankara, where authorities escalated their response by using rubber bullets and other forceful measures to stifle further demonstrations and control the growing crowd. Filled with tear gas and pepper spray, the suffocating streets of Istanbul were a scene of erupted clashes between protesters and the police as the crowd threw flares and other objects to break through the police barricades. In Saraçhane, people were seen fleeing from the police to a local mosque courtyard. In response to the protests President Erdoğan stated that the government will not tolerate any street protests. Local governments in Izmir and Ankara also put a five-day ban on all crowd gatherings. According to Turkish authorities, 343 people have been arrested so far.
According to AP News, Ekrem Imamoğlu was detained in a dawn raid on his residence alongside his close aide, Murat Öngün and two other district mayors. While he is accused of corruption and links to terrorism, experts and key political figures in Turkey believe his detention was politically driven, as he was a strong competitor for current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming election.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants relating to financial crimes. Imamoğlu was accused of leading organisations that violated financial regulations through systematic fraud, bribery, embezzlement, and bid-rigging. A different probe issued other detention orders for Ekrem Imamoğlu and six other individuals, accusing the mayor of facilitating the influence of the PKK group in metropolitan Istanbul. After arrest for corruption and other crimes, he was temporarily suspended from the municipality; Nuri Aslan was then appointed as the mayor of the Istanbul metropolitan area.
Mr. Erdoğan has been in power in Turkey for over two decades, both as the president and the prime minister, and he is now preparing to change the constitution to run for a third term. The arrests occurred just days before the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential candidate selection, scheduled for Sunday, March 23, where Imamoğlu was the sole candidate.
Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the opposition, said prior to the Party’s election that the primary would be held without any impediment. However, it remains unconfirmed if Imamoğlu is still the nominee for the CHP party, as analysts warn that he may even be permenantly removed from the mayor’s office if his links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey and other countries, are confirmed.
Contributing to the crisis, the University of Istanbul announced plans to revoke Imamoğlu’s degree, which would disqualify him from the presidential race. The Turkish Constitution requires candidates to hold a higher education degree; failure to meet this law will result in elimination from the presidential race. İmamoğlu transferred from a private university in northern Cyprus to the University of Istanbul’s faculty of business, the university cited irregularities in his transfer, nullifying his diploma. Imamoğlu himself has said that he would challenge the decision, according to AP News.
With 1.5 million members, the CHP has 5,600 ballot boxes available in 81 provinces in Turkey, and the polls close on Sunday, March 23, at 5 pm local time.
The unrest in major Turkish cities caused the Turkish lira to devalue by 3.5% against the dollar, reflecting the economic instability. The Istanbul stock exchange was also harmed by the news of protests, as its main index dropped by 7%.
Written by Mohammad Amin
