On April 26, Istanbul police arrested 47 people during morning raids as part of a corruption investigation that led to the jailing of the city’s mayor last month. This was the cause of the biggest protests in Turkey in the last decade, informs AP.
Among those arrested in Istanbul, the neighboring province of Tekirdag and Ankara, there were high-ranking officials of the Istanbul Municipality. In the statement of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Istanbul, it is said that operations against 53 suspects were conducted at the same time, six of whom are still at large. Searches continue in homes and workplaces, the prosecutor’s office said.
The March 19 arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rivals, brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to protest what many believe was a politically motivated case. At the same time, the government insists that Turkey’s judicial system remains independent.
More than 2,000 people, including students, journalists and trade union activists, were arrested during protests against Imamoglu’s imprisonment and curtailment of democratic freedoms. Imamoglu, who is also the subject of a separate investigation on terrorism charges, was nominated as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential candidate while behind bars. Although the elections should be held in 2028, it is possible that they will be held earlier.
Criminal cases against Imamoglu, including those that began before the March arrests, could result in him being banned from political activity.
On Saturday, the deputy general secretary of the Istanbul Municipality, Imamoglu’s personal secretary and the head of the city’s water company were among those arrested. Senior CHP lawmaker Gohan Gunaidin said the arrests “effectively render the municipality incapacitated.” The wife of one of Imamoglu’s advisers was also detained. The councilor himself was arrested during the March wave of arrests and is still in prison.
