The university student gathered on March 20, 2025 after being detained on the investigation of the corruption of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Acrem Imamoglu in the Basictus district in Istanbul and gathered the national flag of the university waves.
Ozan Kos | AFP | Getty images
The Turkish court on Sunday prosecuted Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu for allegations of graft, said by state media and other broadcasters, there is a possibility of stopping the country’s biggest protest against President Taip Erdogan’s government in more than a decade.
Imamoglu, the main political rival of Erdogan, the decision to send it to jail comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and thousands of protesters criticized actions as political and undemocratic against him.
The court said that Imamoglu, 54, and at least 20 others were imprisoned as part of a corruption investigation, one of the two which was opened against them last week.
The court decided to release the mayor under judicial control measures on a separate terrorist charge, broadcasters Hulk TV and Ahaber reported, possibly the government from appointing a trustee to run the country’s largest city.
Imamoglu, who leads Erdogan in some elections, denied the allegations, calling them “unimaginable allegations and blasphemy”.
Also on Sunday, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) members, the main protest against Erdogan’s ruling alliance, and others were voting to select Imamoglu as CHP candidate for the next presidential election.
No general election has been scheduled till 2028. But if Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 22 years, has to run again, Parliament will need to return the earlier election as the President would have reached his limit by that date.
CHP’s Mayor Mansoor Yavas also told reporters on Sunday that jailed Imamoglu is an insult to the judicial system.
The government denies that the investigation is politically motivated and says that the courts are independent. It has warned against protests, especially a nationwide ban on road meetings that were extended for four more days on Saturday.
On Saturday, thousands of people gathered outside the Istanbul Municipality Building and the main courtyard, hundreds of police deployed the protesters using tear gas and pepper spray pellets to disperse the protesters, as the crowd threw firecrackers and other items.
Although most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, the protesters collided with the police with the police at the western coastal province of Izmi and the capital Ankara on the third consecutive night, police fired water cannons on the crowd.
Turkish officials have detained 323 people during the protest during the investigation, said on Sunday, internal minister Ali Yerolikaya said.
