Protests in Türkiye as Imamoglu, the Erdogan key rival, is arrested

Ankara Turkeys The main parties of the Party of Republican Peoples (CHP) remained provocative after the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a potential presidential candidate, was detained on Terrorism and Corruption on Wednesday.

The chief of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, addressed tens of thousands of people gathered outside the offices of the municipalities of Istanbuls that evening, describing Imamoglu as the future president of the turkeys.

I call you to support Ekrem, the future president of Turkey, Ozel told the crowd. Is it fair or simply to deal with this way when his only crime is the future president? He asked.

Turkish police arrested Imamoglu on Wednesday morning, accusing him of corruption and links with the Kurdistan workers' party (PKK), which has been putting an armed insurrection against the Turkish state since 1984 and is a terrorist organization designated by Ankara, Washington and most European capital.

Turkish justice minister Yilmaz Tunc announced on Wednesday a total of 106 people on Wednesday, including the imamoglu, had been detained as part of two separate surveys on the accusations of corruption and terrorism.

The detentions occurred a few days before the SCH primary, where party members should largely elect Imamoglu as a presidential candidate for the 2028 elections, pulling a general outcry by opposition voters.

Speaking on Wednesday evening, Ozel urged all the members of the CHP to go to the polls to support Imamoglu.

Despite a prohibition of four-day demonstration imposed following detention, tens of thousands gathered outside the offices of the municipalities of Istanbuls in Sarachane that evening, singing, there is no salvation alone; Either we all together or none of us.

Dilek Imamoglu, wife of the mayor of Istanbul, also addressed the crowd, declaring, does not accept it; If you do, democracy dies. The day the government decides on its opponents is the day when democracy dies.

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, delivered a speech during a demonstration after the arrest of the mayor of Esenyurt, on the Esenyurt Square in Istanbul, October 31, 2024. (Yasin Akgul / AFP via Getty Images)

Given as one of the strongest challengers of Erdogan, Imamoglu was confronted with another reverse even before the detentions. On Tuesday, the University of Istanbul revoked its university degree, potentially disqualifying it to present itself to the presidency, because a university diploma is a constitutional requirement of candidacy in Türkiye.

In the capital, Ankara, thousands of people gathered near the Ministry of Justice to protest against detentions.

Toll in the country and abroad

Our nation will give the necessary answer to those who steal the will of the people, Imamoglu wrote on a handwritten note shared on their social media accounts after their detention around 7:30 am local time. First of all, I confide in God, then to our nation.

Among the detainees, there were also two mayors of the Istanbul district of the Principal Party of the Republican Peoples (CHP), in particular the mayor of Sisli Resul Emrah Sahan, and aid close to Imamoglu, according to a list published by the Anadolu of Turkeys.

In addition, the eminent journalist Ismail Saymaz was also arrested on Wednesday for his alleged involvement during the mass demonstrations of 2013 against the government of Erdogans, according to the Halk TV aligned by the opposition.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, director of Turkey for Human Rights Watch, said that detentions were a blatant abuse of the judicial system.

Wednesday detentions report a frightening escalation in the repression of turkeys against dissent in recent months, with the imprisonment of several eminent personalities of different political backgrounds, including the chief of the far -right opposition Umit Ozdag and the agent of talents Ayse Barim.

Today, detentions are the culmination of a scheme of political investigations and detentions in the last five months initiated by the chief prosecutor of Istanbul, based mainly on accusations of false terrorism, against Al-Monitor, in Al-Monitor.

In his first reaction to detentions early Wednesday, Ozel condemned detention as a coup against democracy.

TUNC rippied criticism, arguing that the judicial power of turkeys is independent. Associating surveys and cases initiated by the judiciary to our president is an overcoming and lack of respect for borders, he said. In our country, the separation of powers between the legislative assembly, the executive and the judiciary is fundamental.

The opposition parties, as well as international groups, in turn criticized the accusations of political motivation.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said the detentions were deeply disturbing.

Tulay Hatimogullari, co-president of the Party of Equality and Democracy of the Pro-Kurdish peoples, said that the detentions were unacceptable.

This operation, which breaks faith in justice, is the manipulation of politics through the judiciary, she wrote on X.

European parliaments Turkey rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, also expressed their concern, saying that this decision had accelerated the authoritarian drift of turkeys.

Following a huge concern, the news on the detention of the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglus among 100 people as well as a 4 -day ban, he wrote on X. Full speed towards a complete authoritarian state.

Lira falls to record the stockings

The Istanbul Stock Exchange fell by almost 10% after detentions, trading being interrupted several times. Meanwhile, the LIRA exchanged about 38 years old at the dollar at the local time on Wednesday morning, compared to 36.5 Tuesday.

All that is necessary for the healthy operation of the markets is underway, the Turkish Minister of Finance Mehmet Simsek wrote on X.

The Central Bank of Turkeys has sold at least $ 5 billion of hard currency to stop the Turkish LIRA slide through the rear doors, Reuters reported, citing bankers. This decision reached after the LIRA fell to a lower record of 42 in the aftermath of the detention, the agency said.