San Francisco Frontiers - Turkey detains Istanbul mayor, Erdogan's main rival

A key figure within the CHP, Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, and his detention comes just days before he was to be named the party's candidate for the 2028 presidential election.

Widely seen as the strongest challenger to Erdogan, Imamoglu has faced a string of what critics say are politically motivated legal cases.

As reports of his detention emerged, Turkey briefly shut down access to social networks and hundreds of police surrounded City Hall and closed off Taksim Square, with the authorities banning all demonstrations for the next four days.

Even so, several hundred people gathered near the Istanbul police headquarters where Imamoglu was taken, angrily chanting "Government resign!" an AFP correspondent said.

The move also sparked chaos on financial markets, with the Turkish lira plunging to a historic low of 39 liras against the dollar and the benchmark BIST 100 stock exchange reportedly shedding 6.9 percent.

With the exchange website offline, it was not possible for AFP to immediately verify the figures.

- 'Nothing short of a coup' -

"Using force to usurp the will of the people or to obstruct it is a coup," CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said on X, his words echoed by many other observers.

"What happened this morning was nothing short of a coup against the main opposition party, with far-reaching consequences for Turkey's political trajectory," political scientist Berk Esen at Istanbul's Sabanci University told AFP.

The raid occurred just hours after Istanbul University revoked Imamoglu's degree, amid claims it was falsely obtained. In Turkey, presidential candidates must have a higher education qualification.

Imamoglu's wife Dilek said police officers turned up around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) and took him away several hours later.

"Police officers came right after the sahur and he started to get ready," she said in a video released by the municipality, referring to the meal before the Ramadan fast resumes at dawn.

"They left the house around 7:30 am," she said.

A statement from the Istanbul public prosecutor's office cited charges including bribery and extortion, alleging that Imamoglu was the leader of a "criminal organisation" and that 100 suspects had been rounded up.

The move appeared to be in connection with a probe into alleged "tender rigging" by Imamoglu that was opened in 2023.

But local reports, including from state news agency Anadolu, said it was also linked to a separate probe for allegedly aiding the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), saying he was one of seven people detained.

- 'They panic' -

On the streets of Istanbul, few were willing to comment and those that did refused to give their names.

"Whenever this guy and his dirty team see someone strong, they panic and do something illegal to him," said an Istanbul shopkeeper, referring to Erdogan and his governing AKP party.

"They are evil, but amateurs," he added.

Shortly after the police raid, access to social media platforms was restricted, the London-based Internet watchdog NetBlocks said.

"Live metrics show #Turkey has restricted access to multiple social media platforms including X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok; the incident comes as Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and dozens of others are detained in events described by the opposition as a 'coup'," it said.

The governor's office immediately issued a ban on all protests until March 23.

The CHP had planned several protests including one for Wednesday afternoon over the revocation of Imamoglu's degree, which the mayor vowed to contest in court.

The party was also due to hold a primary on Sunday at which Imamoglu was to have been formally named its candidate for the 2028 elections.

The 53-year-old, who was resoundingly re-elected as mayor of Turkey's largest city last year, has been named in several legal probes, with three new cases opened this year alone.

In 2022, he was handed two years and seven months in jail and banned from political activities for "insulting" election officials in Istanbul, a sentence that he has appealed.

C.Lewis--SFF