Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a leading opposition figure in Turkey who was arrested on charges of "corruption" and "terrorism," spent the night in police custody despite the mobilization of his party, which is calling a new rally tonight.
Imamoglu, who was due to be nominated as the candidate of the People's Republican Party (People's Republican Party, Social Democratic), the main opposition force in parliament, in the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2028, was arrested in front of his family.
More than a hundred people, including close associates, elected members of his party and various professionals, have been arrested or had arrest warrants issued for them, AFP reported.
In addition to the mayor, six others have been charged with "supporting a terrorist organisation" - the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a banned movement that recently vowed to disarm.
According to Turkish internet monitoring platform Free Web Turkey, access to several social networking and messaging services, including X and WhatsApp, was still restricted in Istanbul this morning.
NRP Chairman Özgür Özgöl, who flew in from Ankara, spent the night at Istanbul's municipality headquarters, to which he has called for a rally tonight at 8:30 p.m. local time at which he will again speak, his party said.
On March 19, despite the cold, several thousand people answered his call, chanting "Imamoglu, you are not alone!
The NRP chairman condemned the "coup d'état against the opposition."
"They wanted to overturn the will of the people," he said.
"There is no corruption, there is no terrorist group, but the executioners of justice are in power," he said, adding that "Imamoglu's only crime is that he has won the hearts of the people. His only crime is that he will be the next president!"
This new wave of arrests affecting the opposition has depressed the exchange rate of the Turkish lira, which this morning was trading at around 38 lira to the dollar and 41.5 lira to the euro, still down.
The mayors of several European capitals and cities have "vigorously" criticised the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, condemning his "arbitrary imprisonment" and expressing their "deep concern".
They include the mayors of Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Rome, Helsinki and Brussels. | BGNES