Intherned Erdogan opponents becomes presidential candidate | Luxembourg word

A few hours after the detention and removal of the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, his party Chp officially nominated him as a presidential candidate. In the party-internal vote on Sunday, 1.6 million of the 1.7 million CHP members voted for Imamoglu as presidential candidates, as party leader Özgür Özel explained in the evening at a rally in Istanbul. Özel spoke of a « historical choice ». However, because of the investigations against Imamoglu, which the country has been upset for days, there is a great question mark behind the political future of the 53-year-old.

According to Özel, in addition to the party members, millions of people also symbolically emitted their voice on so -called solidarity choice boxes for imamoglu. These had been set up along the country alongside the regular urns. After counting a little more than half of the solidarity urns, there would already be more than 13 million symbolic voices for Imamoglu, said Özel. Turkey has 85.6 million inhabitants.

In front of Imamoglu, custody was imposed shortly after the start of the vote on Sunday morning. The decision was made in conjunction with the corruption investigation against him. In the earlier evening, Imamoglu was “temporarily” withdrawn from the Ministry of the Interior on the order of the Ministry of the Interior. The decision had been feared by many in Turkey, but it still shook the country. Critics see the government’s attempt to eliminate a dangerous competitor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Surveys have so far predicted good chances

The next presidential elections 2028 take place regularly. Surveys have so far predicted good chances against the Erdogan, which has been alternating at the top of the state since 2003 as head of government or president.

In connection with the investigation against the important opposition politician, the CHP speaks of a civil coup. In Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other cities, people demonstrated despite the fifth evening in a row against the government’s procedure. Tens of thousands are now joining protests.

In the middle of the week, the Turkish authorities had taken a wave of arrests against numerous suspects in corruption and terrorist investigations. Imamoglu is a suspect in both procedures. A total of 106 people should be in both procedures. Imamoglu rejects all allegations and called the ongoing legal proceedings « anything but fair – it is a execution without legal proceedings ». Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that it was wrong to speak of « political investigations ».

Official candidate only after confirmation by the electoral authority

The choice in which Imamoglu was the only candidate were already scheduled for his arrest. The party only symbolically opened it to non-party members. The official candidate is only imamoglu when the Turkish electoral authority YSK, which is considered by the government, confirms its candidacy. If the investigation is not set, the acceptance of its candidacy is unlikely. In addition, Imamoglu was revoked the university degree this week. The decision is not yet final, but a university degree in Turkey is a prerequisite for a presidential candidacy.

In the past, numerous mayors of the Prourdische Demner party and recently also the Social Democratic CHP, which IMAMoglu belongs, were removed in the past, and then replaced by government-related forced administrators for investigating their office. The deposition of the mayor of the 16 million metropolis Istanbul is, however, an unprecedented process. Imamoglu also threatens political bans in at least five procedures. It is still uncertain whether Istanbul will get a forced administrator.

The government sharply condemns the protests that have been going on since Wednesday. Erdogan spoke of « street terror ». Demonstration bans were issued in several cities. In Istanbul, access restrictions were also issued for the city. CHP boss Özel spoke of one million participants in the demonstration in front of the city administration on Sunday evening. According to the interior minister, hundreds of protesters have been arrested in the past two days. The Imamoglus office announced that it would continue to demonstrate until it gained his freedom.

Erdogan also once went to prison – and is now president

The government also proceeds against users on the Internet. According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 300 people are investigated against « publicity to hatred and hostility » and « incorporation to commit criminal offenses ».

The hard procedure against Imamoglu shows how great the concern of AKP Erdogans is to lose against him, it is said by observers. For the moment, Imamoglu seems to gain sympathy. In fact, some observers assume that the action against Imamoglu will only increase its popularity.

Here, too, there are parallels between Imamoglu and Erdogan, which not only connects the origin from the province of Rize from the Black Sea. Erdogan was also a mayor of Istanbul and started his political advancement from there. As a mayor, in 1999 he had to go to prison for four months due to religious “coincidence of the people”. Now he is president.