Turkish police arrest Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, as government crackdown escalates

The arrest came after a search of Ekrem Imamoglu’s home, a day after a university invalidated his diploma. (FILE/REUTERS)
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Updated 19 March 2025
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Turkish police arrest Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, as government crackdown escalates

  • The detention of Ekrem Imamoglu was a dramatic escalation in a crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Türkiye
  • Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters the arrests had nothing to do with the government

ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links.
The detention of Ekrem Imamoglu was a dramatic escalation in a crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Türkiye.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued warrants for Imamoglu and some 100 other people. Police raided his residence near dawn and detained the mayor at around 7:30 a.m., his wife said. Among those detained was Imamoglu’s close aide, Murat Ongun and two district mayors.
Critics say the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan’s ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections. Government officials insist that the courts operate independently and reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.
“We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged,” Imamoglu said earlier in the day in a video post on social media.
Authorities closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest.
Despite the ban, people gathered at Istanbul’s police headquarters, carrying posters of the mayor and banners with his photo around their shoulders. Others chanted slogans and raised their fists in the air as riot police cordoned off the facility.
Thousands of people later joined a rally outside the city hall, where the leader of the mayor’s party, the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, accused the government of carrying out a “coup.”
“Let’s call it what it is: a coup attempt,” Ozgur Ozel told the crowd. “Today, the will of the people is being seized and usurped through a judicial coup targeting the people of Istanbul.”
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters the arrests had nothing to do with the government. “Linking investigations and cases initiated by the judiciary to our President is, at best, presumptuous and inappropriate,” he said.
The backdrop
Erdogan, a populist with increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has led Türkiye as prime minister or president for more than 20 years. His current term runs until 2028 but he has indicated he’d like to serve longer — something he could achieve with a constitutional change or if early elections are called.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange’s main index dropped by 7 percent over the news, triggering a temporary halt in trading to prevent panic selling and stabilize the market. Trading later resumed but was again halted in the afternoon. The Turkish lira lost some 3.5 percent of its value against the dollar.
Anadolu, the news agency, said that Imamoglu and several others are suspected of a multitude of financial irregularities.
Imamoglu is also suspected of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella organization for the Istanbul municipal elections, the agency said. The PKK, behind a decadeslong insurgency in Türkiye, is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and other allies.
The Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office later obtained a court order for authorities to seize a construction company partly owned by Imamoglu, based on reports from the country’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, HaberTurk and other media reports said.
Silencing the opposition
A day earlier, Istanbul University invalidated Imamoglu’s diploma, effectively disqualifying him from the next presidential race — a university degree is a requisite for running in elections under Turkish law.
The mayor’s party was to hold a primary on Sunday where he was expected to be chosen for its candidate in future presidential elections. With all the arrests Wednesday, that vote was in doubt but Ozel, the party’s chairman, said it would go ahead as planned.
In a message conveyed through his lawyer, Imamoglu said his morale was high and encouraged his supporters to “keep their spirits high.”
“We will emerge stronger from this process,” his lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan quoted him as saying.
Earlier, hundreds also gathered outside CHP’s headquarters in Ankara as the party’s lawmakers protested inside the parliament, disrupting proceedings before marching out.
Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party condemned the detentions and called for the immediate release of all taken into custody.
Imamoglu’s arrest was a “disgrace that will not be forgotten for centuries. This operation, which shatters faith in justice, is an attempt to redesign politics through the judiciary,” Tulay Hatimogullari, the party’s co-chairwoman, wrote on X.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock describing the arrests as a “blow to democracy in Turkiye.”
“We are seeing clearly that the space for opposition politicians is getting smaller and smaller,” she said.
Türkiye has been trying for decades to join the European Union, but its accession process is held up over concerns about its commitment to democracy and other values like respect for the rule of law.
“The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters in Brussels. “Turkiye must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”
Amnesty International said Imamoglu’s detention marked an escalation in Türkiye’s crackdown on the opposition.
“While the weaponization of vague anti-terrorism allegations to detain and prosecute opponents is not new, these latest detentions and associated restrictions represent an alarming intensification of the targeting of real or perceived critics,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty’s deputy director for Europe.
Ongun, the mayor’s aide, appealed for support on X even as he himself was being arrested, though at the time he apparently didn’t know that Imamoglu was also being taken into custody.
“I entrust Ekrem Imamoglu to the Turkish nation. Protect, watch over and support him. They cannot be defeat the nation,” Ongun said.
Separately, police also detained a prominent investigative journalist, Ismail Saymaz, for questioning, the opposition-aligned Halk TV reported.
Meanwhile, Internet-access advocacy group netblocks.org reported Wednesday that access has been restricted in Türkiye to popular social media platforms.
Legal obstacles
In nullifying Imamoglu’s diploma, the university cited alleged irregularities in his 1990 transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus to its business faculty, a decision Imamoglu said he would challenge.
Imamoglu faces multiple lawsuits, including allegations of trying to influence a judicial expert investigating opposition-led municipalities. The cases could result in prison sentences and a political ban.
He is also appealing a 2022 conviction of insulting members of Turkiye’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that could result in a political ban.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Türkiye’s largest city in March 2019, a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. The 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 his party made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.


War-weary Gazans share images of destruction in Israel

sraeli city of Tel Aviv following an Iranian missile attack on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 5 sec ago
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War-weary Gazans share images of destruction in Israel

  • Finally, many Israelis felt what we have felt for 20 months: fear, loss of faith, and displacement

GAZA: Residents of the Gaza Strip have circulated images of wrecked buildings and charred vehicles hit by Iranian missiles in Israeli cities, and some were hopeful the wider conflict could eventually bring peace to their ruined homeland.
Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and the Israeli port city of Haifa before dawn on Monday, killing at least eight people, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s strikes targeting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“The Iranian response was a surprise to me, to many Palestinians, and the Israelis too. Everyone thought it would be mild and theatrical,” said Mohammed Jamal, 27, a resident of Gaza City.
“Watching rockets fall without the stupid Iron Dome being able to stop them is a joy, and seeing buildings collapsing and fires everywhere reminds me of the destruction the occupation brought on Gaza, yet I can’t even begin to compare,” he said via a chat app.
The Iron Dome is a part of Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system that tackles the kind of short-range rockets and mortars fired by militants from Gaza.
Tahrir, a 34-year-old mother of four, said their house was destroyed in the Shejaia suburb, east of Gaza City, in the early weeks of the war in 2023, and her family has since been displaced several times.
“Finally, many Israelis felt what we have felt for 20 months, fear, loss of faith, and displacement,” she said.
“I hope that this time, they will press their government to end the war in Gaza because all of what is happening with Iran is part of the wider Gaza war.”
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.
“I was never a fan of Iran, but seeing them retaliate for real, not a play like in previous times, made me happy, despite all the sadness around me,” said Amr Salah, 29.
“It is nothing compared to what Israel did to Gaza, but at least a taste of it. It is maybe time to end all of this, in Gaza too,” he added.
The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago. Israel’s military campaign has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than 2 million people.
Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread.
Palestinian groups praised the retaliatory strikes by Iran.
“Scenes of Iranian missiles striking the strongholds and hideouts of the Zionists carry with them a sense of pride, dignity, and honor that shatters Zionist arrogance and dominance,” said a statement issued in the name of the “Factions of Resistance.”

 


Lebanese leaders indirectly urge Hezbollah to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict

Updated 16 June 2025
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Lebanese leaders indirectly urge Hezbollah to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict

  • Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged all sides in Lebanon to maintain calm and preserve the country’s stability
  • The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction worth $11 billions. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president and prime minister said Monday that their country must stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran because any engagement would be detrimental to the small nation engulfed in an economic crisis and struggling to recover from the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
Their remarks amounted to a message to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group — an ally of both Iran and the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza — to stay out of the fray.
Hezbollah, which launched its own strikes on Israel a day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, has been hard-hit and suffered significant losses on the battlefield until a US-brokered ceasefire last November ended the 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Earlier this year, Hamas fighters inside Lebanon fired rockets from Lebanese soil, drawing Israeli airstrikes and leading to arrests of Hamas members by Lebanese authorities.
The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction worth $11 billions; Hezbollah was pushed away from areas bordering Israel in south Lebanon. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam spoke during a Cabinet meeting Monday that also discussed the Iran-Israel conflict and the spike in regional tensions over the past four days.
Information Minister Paul Morkos later told reporters that Aoun urged all sides in Lebanon to maintain calm and preserve the country’s stability. For his part, Salam said Lebanon should not be involved in “any form in the war,” Morkos added.
Hezbollah, funded and armed by Iran, has long been considered Tehran’s most powerful ally in the region but its latest war with Israel also saw much of Hezbollah’s political and military leadership killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Since Israel on Friday launched strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program and top military leaders, drawing Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missiles at Israel, the back-and-forth has raised concerns that the region, already on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, would be plunged into even greater upheaval.


First European commercial plane lands in Damascus airport in over a decade

Updated 16 June 2025
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First European commercial plane lands in Damascus airport in over a decade

  • Dan Air’s plane was carrying 138 passengers, including Syrians and foreign nationals
  • It announced flights from Damascus to Bucharest, the German cities of Frankfurt and Berlin, and the Swedish capital, Stockholm

LONDON: Damascus International Airport in the Syrian Arab Republic welcomed its first European commercial flight this week since the civil war began in 2011.

A European airline, Dan Air, landed in Damascus on Sunday after flying from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, the SANA news agency reported.

Mohammad Nidal Al-Shaar, the minister of economy and industry in Syria’s interim government, was on the plane that was received in Damascus by Radu Gimpostan, who led the Romanian Embassy’s delegation.

Dan Air’s plane carried 138 passengers, including Syrians and foreign nationals, and the return flight from Damascus to Bucharest would carry 125 passengers. The airline has announced flights from Damascus to Bucharest, the German cities of Frankfurt and Berlin, and the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

Syrian officials said that the flights would facilitate the mobility of travelers between Syria and Europe following more than a decade of interrupted aviation services.


Israeli forces evict Jenin families, convert homes into military outposts

Updated 16 June 2025
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Israeli forces evict Jenin families, convert homes into military outposts

  • Houses belonging to the Yaseen family were seized after about 50 people evicted
  • Soldiers ‘roaming the streets, firing live ammunition and tear gas, shutting down businesses and harassing residents,’ says Rummana council head

LONDON: Israeli forces in Jenin have evicted many Palestinian families and converted their homes into military outposts across several villages.

The Israeli activity took place across the occupied West Bank city over the past week.

Mohammad Issa, head of the Aneen village council in the west of Jenin, told Wafa news agency on Monday that Israeli troops stormed two homes belonging to the Yaseen family last Friday and forcibly evicted five families of about 50 people.

The homes were later utilized as military outposts while Israeli forces continued to raid Aneen village daily, deploying armored vehicles, erecting roadblocks and stopping-and-searching residents, Wafa added.

“The presence of soldiers inside residential homes has created a climate of fear and insecurity,” said Issa. “Commercial activity has slowed dramatically as a result.”

Hassan Sbeihat, head of the Rummana village council, told Wafa that Israeli forces had converted 11 homes in the elevated western part of the village into military positions over the last four days.

“Israeli infantry patrols are roaming the streets, firing live ammunition and tear gas, shutting down businesses and harassing residents,” Sbeihat said.

He added that families were forcibly displaced and sought shelter with relatives, with no clear sign of when they might return to their homes.

Aziz Zaid, head of the Nazlat al-Sheikh village council, said that Israeli forces evicted residents Wajdi Fadl Saeed Zaid and Omar Hassan Al-Bari from their homes, which were converted into outposts.

He added that the Israeli military continues to conduct house-to-house searches and physically assault residents, Wafa reported.

Zaid said that Israeli forces closed the village’s western entrance, blocked the main road and closed a pharmacy as well as grocery store.


Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions

Updated 16 June 2025
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Sultan of Oman, Iranian president discuss Israeli strikes, diplomatic solutions

  • President Masoud Pezeshkian says while Iran faces Israeli aggression, it supports diplomatic solutions
  • Sultan Haitham bin Tarik condemns damage caused by Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure and facilities

LONDON: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman held a phone call on Monday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer condolences for the Iranian victims of Israeli airstrikes and discuss the latest developments.

Sultan Haitham condemned the damage caused by Israeli strikes to infrastructure and facilities, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured Iranian citizens. He stressed the need for de-escalation from both sides and called for negotiations and dialogue to prevent the ongoing conflict from deteriorating, the Oman News Agency reported.

He reaffirmed the Omani government’s commitment to activate diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, prevent its escalation, and establish fair and just settlements that restore normalcy.

Pezeshkian said that while his country is facing Israeli aggression, it supports diplomatic solutions through dialogue and negotiation, emphasizing the importance of adhering to international law and respecting Iran’s sovereignty, the ONA added.