Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been detained on charges of corruption and alleged terror links, with his party calling it a “coup”
Turkish authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday, accusing him of corruption and connections to terrorist organizations. The arrest comes just before the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was set to nominate him to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2028 election.
Imamoglu, a leading figure in the CHP, gained prominence after winning the Istanbul mayoral election in 2019, ending over two decades of control by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the city of 19 million. Recent opinion polls have indicated that Imamoglu could defeat Erdogan in a presidential vote.
On Wednesday morning, as authorities arrived to detain him, Imamoglu shared a video on X declaring, “We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged.”
CHP…
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