Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political opponent, Ekrem Imamoglu has been officially arrested on Sunday, March 23.
As per BBC, along with being arrested, he has also been charged with corruption.
Imamoglu is the mayor of Istanbul and is expected to be chosen as the presidential candidate for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the 2028 elections through a vote on Sunday.
He denies all the allegations and in a statement on social media, he expressed his stance on the matter, saying, “I will never bow. His detention on Wednesday has sparked off some of the largest protests in more than a decade. “
It added, “Erdogan has condemned the demonstrations and accused the CHP of trying to “disturb the peace and polarise our people”.
On Saturday, even before the protests had fully started, tear gas spread in the air outside the mayor’s office in Istanbul.
As more people gathered throughout the evening, the atmosphere became difficult to breathe in because security forces kept firing tear gas to break up the crowd.
Despite a government ban on gatherings, people of all ages protested, chanting “rights, law, justice,” as they believed the detention was unfair and illegal.
For the past four nights, thousands of people across Turkey have been protesting peacefully.
The authorities tried to suppress these protests by imposing a four day ban on gatherings in Istanbul which was later extended to Ankara and Izmir as the protests spread nationwide.
A day before Imamoglu arrest, Istanbul University announced that it would revoke Imamoglu’s degree due to alleged irregularities.
If this decision is upheld, it could affect his chances of running for president.
The Turkish constitution requires that a president must have completed higher education to be eligible for office.
Erdogan has been in power for 22 years, serving as both prime minister and president.
However, he cannot run for office again in 2028 unless he changes the constitution due to term limits.
Opposition leaders claim that the recent arrests are politically motivated but the Ministry of Justice has denied any political influence.
