Turkish police detention Istanbul Ikrim Eamoglu, a possible presidential candidate

The Turkish authorities detained the main political competition of President Tayeb Erdogan on Wednesday for corruption and a terrorist assistant, while the main opposition party called it a “coup attempt against our next president.”

This step appears to be against Ekrem Imamoglu, the famous Istanbul mayor, has moved an aggressive legal campaign for months on opposition figures throughout the country-a matter that opponents called a politicized attempt to silence the opposition.

Imamoglu, 54, who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, faces two separate investigations that also include charges of organized leadership of crime, bribery and falsification of giving. TV footage of his neck tie repaired and prepared to leave his house for detention on Wednesday morning.

The main opposition People’s Party (CHP) was ready within days to nominate the mayor for a long time, its official presidential opponent of Erdogan, who managed Türkiye for more than two decades.

The following elections were determined for the year 2028, but Erdogan reached a period of time as president, after he held the position of Prime Minister earlier. The 2018 referendum on a new constitution paved the way to carry power until this length.

Erdogan’s government denies criticism and says the judiciary is independent. Meanwhile, it is necessary to end a decades -long rebellion by the banned Kurdistan Labor Party (PKK) after his leader invited to disarmament last month.

The Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, warned against linking Erdogan to the detention of IMamoglu or other legal processes, using words such as “the coup” to describe it, and also against the protests in the streets.

The demonstrators challenge the ban

Although the authorities temporarily banned the protests and the police closed some of the city’s streets in Istanbul, some hundreds of people gathered at the police station and chanted: “Today will come when the AK (Erdogan) party is called to consider.”

There were also reports of access to social media platforms inside Türkiye.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange index decreased by seven percent due to the news of detention, which led to a temporary stopping to trading to prevent the sale of panic and the stability of the market. Turkish pounds lost about seven percent of its value against the US dollar.

Erdogan faced his worst election defeat last year when IMamoglu swept the main cities in Türkiye and defeated the ruling AK party in previous strongholds in the municipal elections at the country level.

In a handwritten message on social media, the detained mayor said that the Turks would respond to “lies, conspiracies and traps” against him. Earlier, before leaving the house to the police station, he said he would not give in to pressure.

“We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be frustrated,” said Imamoglu.

The leader of the People’s Party, the researcher, Ozjor Ozil, who was detained as an attempt to coup and called on all opposition groups to the Union against them. He added that the party will remain ahead and choose Imamoglu as a leader on Sunday.

“Türkiye is going through a coup against the next president. We are facing a coup attempt here,” he said.

Human Rights Watch described the charges against the mayor “with political and sectarian motives”, and said he should be released immediately. France and Germany also expressed their concerns about the arrest.

Detained by dozens of others

According to a statement issued by the Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul regarding the first investigation, a total of 100 people, including journalists and businessmen, were undergoing detention orders, suspected of being involved in criminal activities related to some tenders granted by the municipality.

He said that the second investigation accused Imamoglu and six others of the help of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is considered a terrorist organization by Türkiye and its Western allies.

Last month, the PKK announced a ceasefire in response to the call of leader Abdullah Oaklan to disarm, which represents a big step towards ending the rebellion, which left more than 40,000 dead, and may have security and regional political repercussions.

IMAMOGLU’s detention came a day after the cancellation of the University of Istanbulu, which is whether it would prevent him from running in the presidential elections.

In 2019, IMamoglu was forced to hold repeated elections for the mayor after challenging the ruling party in the first vote on the alleged violations, and the electoral council in Türkiye canceled the results and canceled the state of Imamoglu after 18 days. Many voters were angry, and he won a second vote.

The extensive legal campaign includes many accusations and the appointment of many government secretaries to the opposition -controlled municipal positions. As part of it, the leader of the National Party has been arrested since January.

Turkish police have carried out the arrests of thousands of civil service employees, politicians, military personnel, and even some of them in their police, after Erdogan’s 2016 coup attempt.