Türkiye stops the mayor of Imamoglu in corruption probe – DW – 03/19/2025

The Turkish authorities have arrested the president of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the mayor of Estanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, as part of an investigation into corruption and terrorist links, according to media reports.

The Anadolu state agency said prosecutors also issued arrest orders for another 100 people, including businessmen and journalists.

Imamoglu said in an early position on Wednesday that hundreds of police were in front of their home.

The CNNTURK station reported that the police forces were looking for their property as part of an investigation.

The AFP news agency quoted its press assistant saying that Imamoglu “was arrested and is now at the police headquarters.”

Imamoglu stripped of diploma

Imamoglu arrest occurs a day after the University of Istanbul announced that it was revoking its university diploma for irregularities, giving a great blow to its ambition to run for president in the next elections in the country.

To run for president, a candidate must have a university degree.

The University said he was declaring the graduations and titles of 28 people, including Imamoglu, as “without a place” due to the “obvious error.”

Imamoglu seen as a main contender of Erdogan

Imamoglu, a popular opposition politician of the Republican Popular Party (CHP) of the left center, was nominated as the election of his party for the presidential candidate this weekend.

Imamoglu has been elected twice to the mayor of Istanbul, in 2019 and 2023, surpassing the candidates of the ruling party of Justice and Conservative Development (AKP) of Erdogan.

The mayor’s career in Istanbul has a particular resonance since Erdogan launched his political career there, serving as mayor in the 1990s.

Erodgan has dominated Turkish politics since he became Prime Minister in 2003 and must hold elections before they are scheduled in 2028 if he wants to work again under the Constitution.

Imamoglu: ‘I will not give up’

Responding to the decision to cancel his university diploma, before his arrest, Imamoglu wrote in X: “We will make this illegitimate decision to court him and fight him.”

“I will not give up, I will not get tired. Ekrem is no longer the issue of this action, the whole nation is that all that people have earned and achieved is in danger,” he said.

But he said he had no faith that the ruling was fair, citing political pressure on the Judiciary.

Critics say that the Turkish courts bend to Erdogan’s will. The government says that the Judiciary is independent.

The mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, also widely seen as an alternative presidential candidate of CHP, backed Imamoglu and said that the party will take legal actions against the university’s decision.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery and Louis Oelofse