Its opposition mayor Constantinople Imamoglou He was removed from his duties and was detained earlier today (23/3/25) for “corruption”, four days after his arrest triggering a wave of demonstrations in Turkey without prior to 12 years.
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglou, who is the main opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, He was taken to the Silivri prison in West Constantinoplealong with many of his co -defendants, as his party and Turkish media reported. At the same time, the demonstrations continue for another night with episodes and chemicals by police.
Already the first images of tonight’s episodes are making the world round:
The mayor, who denounces the “unethical and unfounded” accusations of him, was also removed from his duties today (23/2/25), as the authorities announced.
“The ongoing judicial proceedings (…) is an out -of -court execution,” Imoglou commented in a message through his lawyers, calling “the nation to fight”.
A judge ordered the mayor in the morning, described as a “political coup” by the Social Democratic Republican Party (CHP), the largest opposition to which E. Imoglou belongs to.
His lawyers have announced that they would bring this decision.
The judge who ordered the mayor’s detention for “corruption”, did not, on the other hand, decided to detention in relation to the separate category of “terrorism”.
On the way to prison but also… for the party’s presidency
“Erem Imoglu is on the road to prison and on the road to the presidency,” said Ozgur Ozel, chief of the CHP. The latter normally held the qualifying elections for the ratification of the Mayor of Constantinople as the party’s candidate in the next PYO presidential election is projected to take place in 2028.
The CHP called on all voters to participate in them, in addition to party members, hoping to turn this consultation into a referendum.
In the face of the range of mobilization, the CHP, which says “millions of people” took part in the elections, prolonged the vote by 20:30 (local time, 19:30) time in Greece) instead of the 17:00 it was originally foreseen.
“We came to support our mayor. We are always on his side, “Cadriga Sevim, who participated in the elections and saw a multitude of people coming to some polling stations, told the French Agency.
CHP again called on city residents to flock tonight to town hall of the Turkish capital of Turkey for fifth day in a row. Tens of thousands of people gather every night on Wednesday in front of the building to express their support to E. Imoglou…
In an attempt to prevent riots, the Governor of Constantinople prolonged by Wednesday night the ban on rallies And it announced restrictions on the entrance to the city for people who are likely to participate in rallies, but does not specify exactly how the measures will be implemented.
Protests with no end
Since last Wednesday, the wave of demonstrations that have sparked the arrest of Imoglou has spread throughout Turkey, reaching an unprecedented range after Guez’s big wave of demonstrations in 2013, started by Constantinople Taksim Square.
Demonstrations were made in at least 55 of the 81 Turkish provinces, or over one -third of the country, according to a countdown by the French Agency.
The demonstrations have led to hundreds of arrests in at least nine cities, according to authorities.
“The demonstrations will continue (…) The nation is upright and will not retreat,” Aithen Oktay, a 63 -year -old pharmacist in Constantinople, told the French agency, where the mayors of two apartments were also arrested by themselves.
The Municipal Council of Constantinople will be elected Deputy Mayor on Wednesday, the government said.
“We will continue to fight,” Erjan Bassal, a 53 -year -old psychologist, told Ankara, calling on the government to “correct this mistake”.
Responding to the demonstrations, President Erdogan, who was also the mayor of Constantinople in the 1990 years, said he did not retreat to the “street terror”, while Paris and Berlin as well as the mayors of many other major European cities condemned this week.
Ekrem Imamoglu became the black sheep for Erdogan, winning the Municipality of Constantinople in 2019 from the Islamist Conservative Justice and Development (AKP) Head of State, who held the reins of this Metropolis with his camp for 25 years.