Violence erupts in Turkey as Istanbul’s highly effective mayor and Erdogan’s predominant rival is arrested – months after president’s ruling celebration suffered big election losses

Violence erupted on the streets of Istanbul after police arrested the mayor and other prominent figures as part of a probe into alleged corruption and terror links.

Ekrem Imamoglu – a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – was among some 100 people detained early on Wednesday.

Authorities promptly closed roads around the city and banned demonstrations for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest.

But protestors gathering near the main police headquarters in the historic city blasted the arrests as a blow to democracy, taking to the streets in large numbers.

‘They are conducting a coup right now against Imamoglu, said Bulent Gulten, among scores protesting nearby.

Footage showed clashes between protestors and riot police before the crowd swarmed through the city, police overwhelmed by the scale of the demonstration.

The outrage was echoed in Europe, with German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer describing the arrests as ‘a serious setback to democracy’.

Critics note the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan’s ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections.

Imamoglu’s CHP party defeated Erdogan by sweeping most major cities in the national municipal elections in 2019 and 2024.

Government officials insist that the courts operate independently and reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.

Imamoglu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained on charges including corruption and aiding a terrorist group.

He was arrested as police searched his home early today.

His wife, Dilek Imamoglu, told the private Now television that police arrived at their residence before dawn and that the mayor was taken around 7:30 a.m.

‘We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged,’ Imamoglu said earlier in the day in a video post on social media. 

The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors had issued warrants for the mayor and scores of others in political roles. 

Imamoglu’s close aide, Murat Ongun, was also among those detained. NTV said two Istanbul district mayors were arrested, too.

Anadolu reported that Imamoglu and several others are suspected of extortion, money laundering and irregularities concerning tenders and procurements, among other crimes.

Imamoglu is also suspected of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with a Kurdish umbrella organization for the Istanbul municipal elections, the report said.

But critics note the arrests came just as the mayor’s party was due to hold a primary, where he was expected to be chosen for its candidate in future presidential elections.

Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019 in a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. 

The party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.

The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won.

The mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which his party made significant gains against Erdogan’s party.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman Ozgur Ozel told reporters in Istanbul today, following the arrests, that Erdogan was straying from democracy with the detentions.

‘Democracy was a train, and Tayyip Erdogan only boarded it as long as it suited him. Now, he has stepped off that train and joined the ranks of the coup plotters,’ he said. 

News of the arrests – and uncertainty around the motives – correlated with a drop in the main index of the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The index fell 7 per cent over the news of Imamoglu’s arrest, automatically triggering a temporary halt in trading to prevent panic selling and stabilise the market. 

Trading later resumed but was again halted in the afternoon. The Turkish lira lost some 7% of its value against the dollar.

Erdogan, a populist with increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has led Turkey as prime minister or president for more than 20 years.

He is now the longest-serving leader in the Turkish republic’s history. 

His current term runs until 2028 but he has indicated he’d like to serve longer, perhaps attainable with the backing of a friendly parliament.

But support for the president among voters is waning, and remains particularly low in Istanbul. 

Just 43 per cent of Turkish adults nationwide back Erdogan – down 32 percentage points from 2017, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

The sentiment was palpable as protestors took to the streets today to ‘unite against those who betray democracy and the national will’.

‘Ekrem Imamoglu is growing and gaining strength in the eyes of the people,’ Bulent Gulten, among them, told journalists.

Security forces barricaded the streets leading to the police headquarters, with riot police and water cannon trucks blocking the roads as the Istanbul governor’s office banned all public gatherings after Imamoglu’s detention.

‘We came here to support the mayor. They arrested him unjustly. So we are here to support him,’ Murat Sapankaya, a municipal worker attending the protest said.

Ozel, the CHP party chairman, told the opposition-aligned Halik TV channel that the primary vote would go ahead as planned in spite of the arrests.

He said Imamoglu’s detention was ‘an attempted coup against our next president.’

But the opposition leader still faces obstacles if he is to go head-to-head with Erdogan. 

Istanbul University only yesterday invalidated Imamoglu’s diploma, effectively disqualifying him from running in the next presidential race.

A university degree is a requisite for running in elections under Turkish law.

The university cited alleged irregularities in his 1990 transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus to its Faculty of Business Administration. 

Imamoglu said he would challenge the decision. 

In a social media post in English, Imamoglu said he stands ‘resolute, entrusting myself not only to the 16 million residents of Istanbul but to the 86 million citizens’ of Turkey.

Support fanned out beyond the historic city of Istanbul, with many hundreds of citizens also gathering outside the CHP’s headquarters in Ankara, the capital. 

Lawmakers from the party staged a protest inside the parliament, disrupting proceedings there before marching out.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party condemned the detentions and called for the immediate release of all taken into custody.

As he was being arrested, Ongun, the mayor’s aide, appealed for support on X, though he at the time did not appear to know that the mayor was also being taken into custody.

‘They think they can silence us and prevent us from defending and supporting Ekrem Imamoglu,’ Ongun said. 

‘I entrust Ekrem Imamoglu to the Turkish nation. Protect, watch over and support him. They cannot be defeat the nation.’

Separately, police also detained a prominent investigative journalist, Ismail Saymaz, for questioning, the opposition-aligned Halk TV reported.

Meanwhile, internet-access advocacy group netblocks.org reported Wednesday that access has been restricted in Turkey to popular social media platforms.