“Turkish authorities detained 37 people for sharing “provocative” content material on social media,” the Interior Minister stated on Thursday (March 20, 2025), urgent forward with a crackdown on dissenting voices that escalated with the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, a possible challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested after a daybreak raid on his residence on Wednesday (March 19, 2025) as half of investigations into alleged corruption and terror hyperlinks. Several different distinguished figures, together with two district mayors, have been additionally detained.
The detention of a well-liked Opposition chief and key Erdogan rival deepened issues over democracy and sparked protests in Istanbul and elsewhere, regardless of a four-day ban on demonstrations within the metropolis and street closures. Several individuals have been detained following a scholar protest within the capital Ankara that continued into the evening. It additionally brought on a shockwave within the monetary market, triggering momentary halts in buying and selling to forestall panic promoting.
Critics see the crackdown as an effort by Mr. Erdogan to increase his extra then two-decade rule following vital losses by the ruling celebration in native elections final 12 months. Government officers reject claims that authorized actions towards Opposition figures are politically motivated and demand that the courts function independently.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated authorities recognized 261 social media accounts that shared provocative posts inciting public hatred or crime, together with 62 which are run by individuals based mostly overseas. “At least 37 of the suspected owners were detained in a operation police and cyber crime teams,” he wrote on the X social media platform. “Efforts to detain other suspects were continuing,” he stated.
Mr. Imamoglu’s arrest got here simply days earlier than he was anticipated to be nominated because the Opposition Republican People’s Party’s Presidential candidate in a main scheduled for Sunday (March 23, 2025). The celebration’s chief has stated the first will go forward as deliberate.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Imamoglu of exploiting his place for monetary acquire, together with the improper allocation of authorities contracts.
In a separate investigation, prosecutors additionally accuse Mr. Imamoglu of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella organisation for the Istanbul municipal elections. The PKK, behind a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington and different allies.
It was not clear when authorities would start questioning the mayor, who will be detained with out fees for as much as 4 days. Analysts say Mr. Imamoglu might be faraway from workplace and changed by a “trustee mayor” if he’s formally charged with hyperlinks to the PKK.
Before his detention, Mr. Imamoglu already confronted a number of felony instances that would end in jail sentences and a political ban. He can also be interesting a 2022 conviction for insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that would end in a political ban.
This week, a college nullified his diploma, citing alleged irregularities in his 1990 switch from a non-public college in northern Cyprus to its enterprise college, a choice Mr. Imamoglu stated he would problem. The resolution successfully bars him from operating for President, because the place requires candidates to be college graduates.
Mr. Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest metropolis in March 2019, a historic blow to Mr. Erdogan and the President’s Justice and Development Party, which had managed Istanbul for a quarter-century. Mr. Erdogan’s celebration pushed to void the municipal election leads to town of 16 million, alleging irregularities.
The problem resulted in a repeat of the election just a few months later, which Mr. Imamoglu additionally received. The mayor retained his seat following native elections final 12 months, throughout which his celebration made vital beneficial properties towards Mr. Erdogan’s governing celebration.
Published – March 20, 2025 03:53 pm IST
