Turkey: Ex-Istanbul mayor Imamoglu formally arrested and jailed

A Turkey court formally arrested the mayor of Istanbul and key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday and ordered him jailed pending the outcome of a trial on corruption charges. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained following a raid on his residence earlier this week, sparking the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade. It also deepened concerns over democracy and rule of law in country. The popular opposition politician vowed not to bow down after the court issued the order. "We will, hand in hand, uproot this blow, this black stain on our democracy... I am standing tall, I will not bow down," Imamoglu said in a post on X.

“I stand tall, I will never bow,” Imamoglu says after Turkish court decision to arrest him.

“My dear nation; Never be sad, never be despondent, never lose hope.

We will, hand in hand, uproot this blow, this black stain on our democracy.” https://t.co/QKwZWzLWE6

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) March 23, 2025

His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
The formal arrest came as more than 1.5 million members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Imamoglu as its presidential candidate. With Imamoglu as the sole candidate, the primary — announced last month — was largely a symbolic show of support.T he party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide — called “solidarity boxes” — to allow people who are not party members to express their support to the mayor.
Before his detention, Imamoglu had already faced multiple criminal cases that could result in prison sentences and a political ban. He was also appealing a 2022 conviction for insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.
Earlier in the week, a university nullified his diploma, citing alleged irregularities in his transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus some 30 years ago. The decision effectively bars him from running for president, since the position requires candidates to be university graduates. Imamoglu had vowed to challenge the decision. Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019, in a major blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities. Imamoglu officially no longer Istanbul Mayor.Turkey's Interior Ministry suspends him from his position, for now a temporary measure.