Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor of Istanbul and key Erdogan rival, arrested following Turkish court orders

Istanbul mayor arrested on corruption charges, sparking protests and concerns over democracy in Turkey.

A court formally arrested the Mayor of Istanbul and key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (March 23, 2025) and ordered him jailed pending the outcome of a trial on corruption charges.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained following a raid on his residence earlier this week, sparking the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade. It also deepened concerns over democracy and rule of law in Turkey.

His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.

Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.

The formal arrest came as more than 1.5 million members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Imamoglu as its presidential candidate. With Imamoglu as the sole candidate, the primary — announced last month — was largely a symbolic show of support.

The party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide — called “solidarity boxes” — to allow people who are not party members to express their support to the mayor.

“Honestly, we are embarrassed in the name of our legal system,” Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, a fellow member of Imamoglu’s CHP, told reporters after casting his vote, criticizing the lack of confidentiality in the proceedings.