College pupil wave Turkish nationwide flags as they collect in protest in Besiktas district in Istanbul on March 20, 2025 following Istanbul metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s detention over a corruption probe.
Ozan Kose | Afp | Getty Pictures
A Turkish courtroom jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft prices, state media and different broadcasters mentioned, in a transfer more likely to stoke the nation’s greatest protests towards President Tayyip Erdogan’s authorities in additional than a decade.
The choice to ship Imamoglu, Erdogan’s principal political rival, to jail comes after the primary opposition get together, European leaders and tens of hundreds of protesters criticized the actions towards him as politicized and undemocratic.
The courtroom mentioned Imamoglu, 54, and at the least 20 others had been jailed as a part of a corruption investigation, considered one of two that had been opened towards him final week.
The courtroom determined to launch the mayor below judicial management measures over a separate terror-related cost, broadcasters Halk TV and AHaber reported, doubtlessly blocking the federal government from appointing a trustee to run the nation’s largest metropolis.
Imamoglu, who leads Erdogan in some polls, has denied the fees, calling them “unimaginable accusations and slanders”.
Additionally on Sunday members of Republican Folks’s Occasion (CHP), the primary opposition towards Erdogan’s ruling alliance, and others had been voting to pick out Imamoglu because the CHP’s candidate for the subsequent presidential election.
No normal election is scheduled till 2028. But when Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 22 years, is to run once more, parliament would wish to again an earlier election because the president can have reached his restrict by that date.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, additionally of the CHP, advised reporters on Sunday that jailing Imamoglu is a shame for the judicial system.
The federal government denies that investigations are politically motivated and says courts are unbiased. It has warned towards protests, particularly given a nationwide ban on avenue gatherings that was prolonged on Saturday for 4 extra days.
On Saturday, hundreds gathered exterior the Istanbul municipality constructing and the primary courthouse, with a whole lot of police stationed at each places utilizing tear fuel and pepper spray pellets to disperse protesters, as the gang hurled firecrackers and different objects at them.
Although most demonstrations have been peaceable, protesters additionally clashed with police within the western coastal province of Izmir and the capital Ankara for a 3rd evening in a row, with police firing water cannons on the crowds.
Turkish authorities have detained 323 folks throughout protests over the investigation, Inside Minister Ali Yerlikaya mentioned early on Sunday.
