A Turkish court issued a new arrest warrant on Monday for Ekrem Imamoglu, the suspended mayor of Istanbul who has been in custody since March. That Turkish media report. He is now also suspected of “political espionage”. The move marks yet another phase in legal pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival.
Imamoglu was arrested in March, a few days before the Turkish opposition party CHP was to choose its presidential candidate. He was then accused of bribery, fraud, leading a criminal organization and providing assistance to a terrorist organization. Imamoglu called his arrest at the time “a coup against the will of the people.” About a hundred others were also arrested, including mayors, civil servants and journalists.
According to the Turkish state agency Anadolu, Imamoglu also embezzled money to finance his presidential campaign and sought international support through espionage. The mayor, who has been the face of the center-left opposition party CHP since 2019, vehemently denied the new allegations. “Blatant lies and conspiracies that not even the devil would concoct,” he wrote from prison on X.
Last year, Imamoglu’s party won the local elections by a considerable margin over Erdogan’s party. That was the start of a major legal campaign against him. Imamoglu is also said to have insulted the electoral council, and in March Istanbul University declared his diploma invalid, while a Turkish president must have a valid diploma. The ongoing lawsuits against Imamoglu are seen by critics as an attempt by Erdogan to politically eliminate his rival.
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