The main Tayyip Ardoğan competitor was held by the Turkish police

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Turkish police have detained Istanbul’s mayor Ikrim Eamoglu, who was soon expected to be announced as a major opposition competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

ImamogluThe state -run Ankamulu agency said that his detention was part of the investigation of the alleged terrorist ties caused by the support he received from a political group supporting men in the municipal elections for the year 2024.

He faces a series of criminal investigations, most of them because of his political sermons, and accused the government of using the judiciary to preserve power.

“Hundreds of police in Babi,” Emamoglu said in a voice message shared by his office. “This unethical and invisible approach will undoubtedly turn the will and flexibility of our people.”

Imamoglu is one of turkeyThe most popular political figures and won his re -election as a mayor of 16 million people with a wide margin less than a year ago.

Opinion polls appear before Erdogan in a competition for the country’s high office.

The Republican People’s Party will hold the preliminary elections on Sunday to nominate its presidential candidate, and Eamoglu was the only competitor.

The elections are scheduled to be held in 2028, but the party said that naming its candidate now must force Parliament to summon a survey.

Emamoglu’s detention comes a day after Istanbul University He canceled the degree of higher educationAnd that would exclude him from entering the presidential race if it does not turn upon the appeal.

This is a developing story