İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu vowed to continue his political fight after being jailed in a corruption investigation and suspended from office Sunday, developments that have sparked Turkey’s most widespread street protests in over a decade.
Four days after his detention in a pre-dawn raid by hundreds of police officers, İmamoğlu was stripped of his title and transferred to Silivri Prison on the western outskirts of the city.
“This is not a judicial procedure — it is a political execution without trial,” he wrote on X via his lawyers as he was being taken to prison following a court ruling that formalized his detention.
İmamoğlu’s detention has triggered mass demonstrations that began in İstanbul and have since spread to at least 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to an AFP tally.
On Sunday evening, protesters were preparing for a fifth consecutive night of demonstrations, with a major gathering planned for 1730 GMT. İstanbul authorities moved to block access roads and bridges leading to City Hall on the historic peninsula.
While the court did not approve a separate terrorism-related arrest request, the Interior Ministry announced that İmamoğlu had been “suspended from office.”
The ruling coincided with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) primary to formally nominate İmamoğlu as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
‘I won’t be bowed’
“Be sure to vote today for the future of Turkey, then raise your voices by gathering in İstanbul and across other provinces,” İmamoğlu wrote earlier Sunday.
Observers say the primary was the likely trigger for the legal and administrative moves against the mayor, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival.
Earlier in the day, İmamoğlu pledged to continue resisting.
“We will erase this black stain on our democracy. I will not be bowed,” he said.
CHP opened the primary vote to the general public, not just its 1.7 million registered members. Long queues formed outside polling stations across İstanbul. The municipality extended voting hours to 8:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) due to what it called “overwhelming turnout.” Polls were originally scheduled to close at 5:00 p.m.
“Whenever there’s a strong opponent to Erdoğan, they end up in jail,” said Ferhat, a 29-year-old voter who declined to give his surname. “There is a dictatorship in Turkey right now. It’s politics in name only.”
Others at the polls said they felt their votes had been invalidated.
“They have literally stolen our vote. It brings tears to my eyes,” said Şükrü İlker, 70. He said demonstrators didn’t seek confrontation but felt compelled to defend the candidate they elected.
Ayten Oktay, a 63-year-old pharmacist, said the protests would not stop.
“The Turkish nation has woken up,” she said. “We will defend our rights until the end.”
‘A great awakening’
Casting her vote early Sunday, Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu urged citizens to stand by her husband.
“We are casting our vote to support President Ekrem — for democracy, justice and the future,” she wrote on X, pledging to “never give up.”
Earlier, she briefly met with İmamoğlu at court along with CHP leader Özgür Özel, who said the mayor remained in high spirits.
“He said this process had led to a great awakening for Turkey, which he welcomed,” Özel said, estimating that more than half a million people attended Saturday’s protest in İstanbul.
Riot police responded to demonstrations in İstanbul with rubber bullets, pepper spray and percussion grenades. In Ankara, water cannons were also used.
The moves against İmamoğlu rattled financial markets. The Turkish lira dropped and the BIST 100 index closed nearly 8 percent lower on Friday.
Despite bans on demonstrations in Turkey’s three largest cities and a warning from Erdoğan that authorities would not tolerate “street terror,” the unrest continues to spread.
© Agence France-Presse