Turkey detains 45 in Istanbul corruption probe, bans Imamoglu's image
Turkey's main opposition leader criticized the detentions of new individuals including key aides of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
ANKARA — Turkish police detained 45 people on Friday as part of a corruption investigation into the Istanbul municipality, where Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been behind bars for nearly two months.
Imamoglu, a presidential contender from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and a key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on March 19 and subsequently jailed on March 23 on corruption charges, leading to the largest mass protests in the country in more than a decade. He denies any wrongdoing.
Turkish authorities issued detention warrants on Friday for 49 people as part of the corruption probe, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Police rounded up 45 suspects in raids across Istanbul, the Aegean port city of Izmir and the Black Sea province of Trabzon, Anadolu said. Police were still searching for the four others as of this writing.
Among the detainees are Imamoglu’s chief of staff, Kadriye Kasapoglu, security chief Ali Kurt and heads of companies affiliated with the municipality. Friday’s raids came on top of new detentions earlier this week.
On Tuesday Turkish police detained 20 people as part of the same investigation. Thirteen of them were later formally arrested, bringing the number of those arrested in the probe targeting the Istanbul municipality, including Imamoglu, to 62 since March 23. All of the arrestees are awaiting indictment.
Following the detention of Imamoglu in March, Turkey has seen mass protests across the country as government critics say his persecution is politically motivated and designed to sideline a key rival of Erdogan in the presidential elections set to be held in May 2028 but could be held earlier.
CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel condemned the latest detentions on Friday, following his visit with Imamoglu at the prison near Istanbul where the mayor is being held.
“This level of injustice has faced backlash in the public conscience — and it will continue to do so,” Ozel said.
“More people believe in us. You’re seeing the polls too,” Ozel added, referring to several public opinion surveys in recent months showing the CHP’s vote share steadily rising.
The Turkish government denies the accusation, insisting that the judiciary operates independently.
Meanwhile, Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office has banned the use of images, videos and audio recordings of Imamoglu in public transportation, Turkish media reported on Friday.
A CHP official told Al-Monitor later Friday, however, that all posters and photographs of Imamoglu had already been removed from public transit on March 24 upon a directive by the prosecutor’s office on the day he was jailed, and that there was no new directive from the prosecutor’s office over the usage of Imamoglu’s image.
