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Erdoğan is behaving like a mob boss, says main opposition leader

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Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of behaving like a “political mob boss” after the president hinted at further legal action following the arrest of a prominent CHP mayor on Friday.

Özel made the remarks on Saturday after Rıza Akpolat, mayor of İstanbul’s Beşiktaş district and a CHP member, was jailed on corruption-related charges on Friday, a move critics say is part of a broader government crackdown on opposition-run municipalities.

Speaking outside İstanbul’s Bakırköy Prison, where he had visited activists imprisoned over 2013 protests against Erdoğan’s government, Özel denounced the president’s warning that “the real bombshell is still in the bag,” a phrase widely interpreted as a threat of further legal action against opposition figures.

“Erdoğan is speaking like a mob boss, implying that he has secret information and will unleash it at a time of his choosing,” Özel said. “If the real bombshell is something to fear, then it’s at the ballot box. If you’re not afraid, come and face it there.”

The arrest of Akpolat, who was detained along with 22 others, marks a deepening political rift that followed a rhetoric of detente after Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a historic defeat in the March 2024 local elections. For the first time in 47 years, the CHP garnered a majority of the popular vote and came first in almost all of Turkey’s major cities.

The government alleges the Beşiktaş mayor was involved in “membership in a criminal organization,” “bid rigging” and “unjust acquisition of property.” The interior ministry suspended him from office, and the Beşiktaş Municipal Council is set to elect a replacement on January 23.

Third CHP mayor arrested

Akpolat is the third opposition mayor to face legal action in recent months. Kepez Mayor Mesut Kocagöz was arrested and later released, while Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer remains in custody. Opposition figures argue that the wave of arrests is politically motivated, aimed at weakening the CHP.

The latest case has raised concerns that İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading Erdoğan rival, could be the next target. Investigative journalist Saygı Öztürk reported that 51 separate investigations are ongoing into the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its subsidiaries, all related to public tenders.

“The real bombshell Erdoğan refers to is these investigations,” Öztürk wrote. “It’s clear that İmamoğlu is being targeted.”

İmamoğlu, who previously defeated Erdoğan’s AKP three times in İstanbul elections, responded defiantly this week. “If I’m the target, bring it on,” he said.

Erdoğan: ‘No one is above the law’

Speaking at a party congress in the central Anatolian province of Konya, Erdoğan dismissed the opposition claims, arguing that corruption probes are a matter of law enforcement, not politics.

“No one, including you, Mr. Özel, is above the law,” Erdoğan said. “The judiciary will do its job, and you will respect it whether you like it or not.”

He also accused the opposition of attempting to pressure the judiciary, saying, “You can’t achieve anything by threatening prosecutors and judges. The rule of law will prevail.”

However, Özel countered that the government’s actions amount to “a political and legal coup” against opposition municipalities. He accused Erdoğan of applying Feindstrafrecht (German for “Criminal Law of the Enemy”), a legal doctrine proposed by German legal scholar Günther Jakobs, which says that individuals deemed enemies of the state “do not deserve the protections of civil or penal law” and allows authorities to use all available means to pursue and punish those deemed as threats, effectively placing them outside the normal legal framework.

Observers say Erdoğan’s AKP is seeking to reclaim key cities lost to the opposition in the 2019 and 2024 elections. The CHP, which won control of İstanbul and Ankara in a historic upset in 2019, has been under increasing pressure since then, with its mayors facing investigations, lawsuits and bureaucratic obstacles.

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