German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Turkey on Thursday for detaining İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s primary political opponent, calling the act harmful to democracy and relations with Europe, Politico reported.
Speaking at a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels, Scholz described İmamoğlu’s detention as a “very, very bad sign” and urged Turkish authorities to halt actions against political opposition.
İmamoğlu, from the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained days before he was expected to be named the opposition’s presidential candidate. Turkish prosecutors accused him of corruption and alleged involvement with a terrorist group, claiming he led a “criminal organization.”
Scores were detained during protests across Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday following İmamoğlu’s arrest.
Scholz emphasized that Berlin and Brussels had been working to improve ties with Turkey and that and the mayor’s arrest undermines these efforts.
“We can only call for an immediate end to this and for the opposition and the government to compete with each other rather than the opposition being put on trial,” Scholz said.