Istanbul mayor arrested on corruption charges

ISTANBUL — The Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu has been suspended from office and detained on corruption charges, Turkiye's Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Imamoglu's removal was a "temporary measure under the law", the ministry said on X, citing allegations of unlawful acquisition of personal data for profit, bribery, tender rigging and establishing a criminal organization.

Imamoglu, 54, had been held for questioning since Wednesday. He was arrested after a statement in court on Sunday and transferred to Marmara Prison in Istanbul's Silivri district.

He has denied the charges he faces as "unimaginable accusations and slanders" and called for nationwide protests on Sunday. Imamoglu, of the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, won a second term as Istanbul mayor in March last year, defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party candidate Murat Kurum.

The government denies that investigations are politically motivated and says courts are independent.

Police have detained more than 1,100 people since the arrest of Imamoglu sparked the country's worst unrest in years, officials said on Monday.

The demonstrations began in Istanbul after Imamoglu's arrest and have since spread to more than 55 of the country's 81 provinces, sparking clashes with riot police.

A nationwide ban on street gatherings was extended on Saturday for four more days.

Separately, Turkiye's Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan sought to calm market jitters that sparked a sharp sell-off in Turkish assets since Imamoglu was detained. Analysts expect that to accelerate after his imprisonment.

On Monday Imamoglu was nominated as a presidential candidate by the CHP for the 2028 elections, a party spokesman told AFP.

The CHP, the second-largest party in parliament, held a primary election on Sunday, in which the only candidate was Imamoglu.

The nonmember vote — more than 13 million, according to the CHP — could indicate that Imamoglu enjoys wide public support beyond the party faithful. The party's chairman said it showed the need for early elections.

No general election is scheduled until 2028.

If Erdogan, who has led Turkiye for 22 years, is to run again, parliament would need to back an earlier election since the president will have reached his limit by that date.

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