The Turkish police detained Mayor of Istanbul Ekrema Imamoglua after a raid in his house. The local media reported that The operation is related to the investigation of corruption, It writes TASR, according to AFP and AP reports.
Imamoglu, which is considered a potential future challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential election, “He was detained and is now at the Police Directorate,” The mayors stated the assistant.
Anadol’s Turkish agency said that Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for another 100 people. The authorities have closed several roads around Istanbul and for four days banned demonstrations in the city in an apparent effort to prevent protests after this action, writes AP.
“Hundreds of cops were sent to the door of my house – the house of 16 million Istanbul’s inhabitants,“said the mayor in the video published on the X Network, informs CNN.Mimamoglu station mayor Istanbul since 2019 and in the internal party elections on March 23 was supposed to be the only candidate for the presidential candidacy for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Before the presidential elections, which should be held in Turkey in 2028, facing imamoglu to multiple investigations and litigation. In 2022 he was sentenced to two years and seven months of imprisonment and prohibition of political activities for alleged insult to the election commission members. He appealed against this judgment.
The mayor’s detention occurred only a day after Istanbul University announced on Tuesday that Imamogl and other more than 20 graduates will take university degrees. The University claims that these titles were unlawfully awarded them. Without his university education, Imamogl, according to CNN, could not run for president.
