Turkish judiciary arrests Erdogan-Widersacher

A few days before his planned appointment as presidential candidate in the largest Turkish opposition party, the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested – one of the most important opponents of head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This was confirmed by his party, the social democratic CHP. Imamoglu was to be officially determined on Sunday as your candidate for the next regular presidential election in 2028.

CHP boss Özgür Özel spoke of the attempt of a coup and a crucial moment for the future of Turkish democracy. The people should be prevented from determining the next president themselves. He called on the 1.7 million party members to take part in the party internal election of the CHP top candidate on Sunday.

Demonstration ban and road closures

The governor of the province of Istanbul imposed a four-day demonstration, meeting and news lock until Sunday. Several streets were also blocked in the metropolis. According to the governor's office, selected roads remain impassable for four days, and railway stations were also closed.

Several social networks and short message services were only used to a limited extent. Many Turks described throttles and restrictions on X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp as well as signal and telegram.

State currency lira sags

The arrests also shook the financial markets. The state currency Lira dropped to a record low for the US dollar, the stock market collapsed and the returns on the bond market were increasing significantly.

The authoritarian Erdogan has been leading Turkey as head of government or president for more than 20 years. According to the constitution, he is not allowed to run again in 2028 – but he indicated that he would like to stay in office longer. This would only be legally possible if the parliament sets a early election. Erdogan's party and their partners do not currently have the necessary majority for this without the votes of the opposition.

Justice is also suspected of terrorist

Among other things, Imamoglu is accused of leading a criminal organization and corruption, as can be seen from the prosecutor's arrest warrant, which is available to the German Press Agency. There are also allegations of terrorism: the 53-year-old is intended to support the prohibited Kurdish workers' party PKK, as the state news agency Anadolu reported.

In addition to Imamoglu, other accused is investigated. According to Anadolu, 79 people were arrested in the morning, including the mayors of two Istanbul communities and a well -known singer. Specifically, it is about suspicion of membership in a criminal association, extortion, bribery, fraud and tender manipulation.

Imamoglu: « In the face of a great tyranny »

Imamoglu released a video in the morning on platform X, in which he spoke of hundreds of police officers at the front door. « We are in the face of a great tyranny, » he wrote. But he won't give up. Several television stations reported that the police had gained access to Imamoglus estate and searched the building.

The procedure of the law enforcement authorities against Imamoglu had already announced. It became known on Tuesday that the Istanbul University revealed the university degree. This is a prerequisite for candidacy for the presidency. The background to the cancellation is said to be an allegedly illegal change of university. Imamoglu said he wanted to go to court against the decision, but had lost confidence in fair judgments. In a number of other procedures, he threatens prisoners and political bans. His lawyer Kemal Polat had told the German press agency before the arrest warrant became known that Imamoglu could only compete as a presidential candidate if all legal processes were exhausted against the decision.