Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested after a raid on his home earlier this week. File.
| Photo Credit: AP
A court formally detained the Mayor of Istanbul, a prominent opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (March 23, 2025), and ordered him jailed while awaiting the results of a trial concerning corruption allegations.
Imamoglu was arrested after a raid on his home earlier this week, sparking the most significant surge of street protests in Turkey in over ten years. This incident has further intensified worries regarding democracy and the rule of law in the country.
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Who is Ekrem Imamoglu?
Imamoglu was elected Mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019, in a major blow to Mr. Erdogan and the President’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Mr. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.
The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won.
The Mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which the CHP made significant gains against Mr. Erdogan’s governing party.
Born in Akcaabat on the northeastern Black Sea coast, Imamoglu moved to Istanbul as a teenager. After studying business, he graduated in 1995 and went to work in the construction industry. He was a political unknown until 2010 when he managed to end the 25-year dominance of Mr. Erdogan’s AKP and its allies in Istanbul where the president also once served as mayor. Within a short period of time, the smooth-talking politician has won support from a wide spectrum of voters.
What is Istanbul’s jailed Mayor accused of?
The Mayor was arrested for “corruption”, and “supporting a terrorist organisation” due to an electoral agreement between his party and a pro-Kurdish group that authorities accuse of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Ankara.
The pretrial detention order, obtained by AFP on Sunday, states that “Ekrem Imamoglu is being detained for establishing and leading a criminal organisation; accepting bribes; corruption; illegally recording personal data; and rigging tenders.”
The order went on to say that “although there is a strong suspicion of guilt for the crime of supporting an armed terrorist organisation, it is not necessary at this stage” to order his detention on these potential charges “since it has already been decided to imprison him for financial crimes”.
His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.
(With inputs from agencies)
Published – March 26, 2025 11:39 am IST
