Istanbul (AP) – Thousands of Peopered at Istanbul’s City Hall for a Second Night Thursday to Rally Against Arrest of the City’s MayorWHich Many See AS A POLITICALL DREDEN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE A KEY Rival of Presidident Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the next to the nextedal race.
Mayor Ecrem immamogl WAS ARRESTED in Dawn Raid on His Residence on Wednesday Over Alleged Corruption and Terror Links, Escalating A crackdown On Opposition Figures and Dissenting Voices. Several Other Prominent Figures, Inclument Two District Mayors, Were Also Detained.
The popular opposition of the popular option of the deepened concerns over democracy and sparked protests in Istanbul and Elsewhere, Despite Road Closures and A Four-Day Ban On Demonstrations in the City.
It Also Caused a Shockwave in the Financial Market, Triggering Temporary Halats in Trading on Wednesday to Panic Selling.
Addressing the Rally Outside City Hall, Ozgur Ozel, The Leader of Mayor’s Republican People’s Party, Or CHP, Called on Supporters to the Street to Claim Their Rights Without Resorting to Violence. “YES, I CALLING THE PEOPLE TO THE STREETS,” He Said.
Mansur Yavas, The Mayor of the Capital Ankara and Another Popular Opposition Figure, JOINED The Rally, Calling on All Opposition Parties to Join Forces Against “Injustces.”
Police Blocked A Group of Youths WHO ATTEMPTED TO BREACH A Barricade in an Effort to March Toward Taksim, Istanbul’s Central Square and Used Pepper Spray to Break Them Up. In Ankara, Police Deployed Tear Gas and Water Cannons to Dispere a Protest at the City’s Prestigious Middle Technical University. Protests Also Broke Out in the Cities of Adana and Izmir.
The Interiant Ministry Said Six Police Officers Were Injured in Scuffles with Demonstrators in Istanbul.
Erdogan’s Party Rejects Accusations of Interference
Critics See the Crackdown as an Effects by ERDOGAN TO EXTEN MORE THEN RULE FOLLOWING SOMALLOWING LOSSES BY Government Officals Reject Claims That Legal Actions Against Opposition Figures Are Politically Motivated and Insist The Courts operate independent.
Omer Celik, The Spokesman of Erdogan’s Ruling Justice and Development Party, Disputed Allegations by the Oppositions Were Giveovenment-Orchestred and Urged Respect for the Judicial Process.
“What a politician should do is to focess,” Celik Told Journalists. “None of us have information About of the Content of the (Criminal) File.”
HE ALSO Rejected Accusations Leveled by the Main Opposition Republican People’s Party, Or CHP, That The Mayor’s ARREST AMOUNTED TO A “COUP” Saying, “The name of our party, outrid life, can only be associated with democracy – on the opposite coup. “
In His First Comments on the Mayor’s Detectionion, Erdogan Accused the Opposition to Respond to the Allegations of Corruption
“Erdogan Said. “INTEAD, They Confine The Matter to Political Slogans, Resorting to the Easy of Provoking the Public.”
Earlier, Interiant Minister Ali Yerlikaya Said Authorities Had Detained Doses of People For Sharing.
261 Social Media Accounts That Shared Posts That Allegedly Incited Public Hatired Or Crime, Inclument 62 That Are Peope Based ABROAD, Yerlikaya Wrote on X. At Least 37 of the Suspected Owners Detain Other Suspects Were Continuing.
Imamoglu’s Arrest Cames Just Days Before HE WAS Expected to be nomined as the Opposition Republican People’s Party’s Presidential Candidate in a Primary Scheduled For Sunday. The party’s leader Has Said The Primary Will Go AHEAD as Planned.
Germany Calls The Arrest A Bad Sign
German Chancelor Olaf Scholz Expressed Concern Over’s Detectionion, Saying It Was a “Very, Very Bad Sign” for Turkey’s Relations with the European Union.
Scholz Said it Was “Depressing for Democracy in Turkey, But Certainly Also Depressing for the Relationship Between Europe and Turkey.”
“He Said to Court,“ He Said.
Prosecutors Accused Imamoglu of Exploiting For Financial Gain, Inclument The Improper Allocation of Government Contcts.
In A Separate Investigation, Prosecutors Also Accuse Imamoglu of Aiding The Outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Or PKK, by Allegedly formed an Alliance with Kurdish Groups for the Istanbul Municipal Elections. The PKK, Behind A Decades-Long Insurgency in Turkey, is Designated A Terrorist Organization by Ankara, Washington and other Allies.
It was not that it is authorities would begin queues Analysts
Imamoglu Faces Other Charges
Bephore His Detectionion, Imamoglu Already Faced Multiple Criminal Cases That Cult Result in Prison Sentances and A Political Ban. He is also appealing a 2022 Conviction for Insulting Members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, A Political Ban.
This Week, A University NulliFed feeling diplomaCited Alleged Irregularities in His 1990 Transfer from A Private University in Northern Cyprus to Its Business Faculty, A Decion Imamoglu Said He Would Challenge. The decision Effetivivally Bars Him from Running for Presidident, Ex,E The Position Requires Candidates to Be University Graduates.
Imamoglu Was Elected Mayor of Turkey’s Largest City in March 2019, A Historic Blow to Erdogan and the Presidident’s Justice and Development Party, Who Had Controlled Istanbul For A Quarter-Century. Erdogan’s Party Pushed to Void The City of 16 Million, Alleging irregularities.
The challenge resulted in a Few Months Later, Which Imamoglu Also Won. The Mayor Retained his seat Following Local Elections Last Year, Duraing Who His Party Made Made Significant Gains Against Erdogan’s Governing Party.
___
Fraser Reported from Ankara, Turkey. Geir Moulson Contributed from Berlin.
