Mideast: Mayor Of Istanbul Arrested

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Two weeks ago, on Wednesday, March 19, Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor of Istanbul, was arrested at his residence. Imamoglu ran for Mayor as the CHP (secular Republican People’s Party) candidate in 2019. His party is the most popular opposition party to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party. He stands accused of racketeering, corruption, and aiding terrorism. The court that ordered his arrest claimed they were operating without the Executive’s influence. 

This is not Imamoglu’s first run-in with Erdogan’s administration. The first time he was elected, the results were nullified based on dubious claims of election fraud. The Justice and Development party had governed Istanbul for decades. In the special election held afterward, Imamoglu won again, this time by an even greater margin. And one day before his arrest, Istanbul University revoked his degree from over thirty years earlier; a shocking, legally confusing, and politically motivated move to disqualify him from running for President, as Turkish candidates for the presidency require a degree. 

Erdogan, who also began his political career as mayor of Istanbul, certainly appears threatened and is willing to apply pressure through whatever means is accessible to the president. 

Republican People’s Party Primary

On Sunday, March 23, CHP held a presidential primary in which one name was on the ballot: Ekrem Imamoglu. Despite his arrest, Imamoglu was successfully nominated as his party’s candidate for president. Non-CHP members cast 13 million of the 15 million votes cast for Imamoglu in the primary. Though they cannot cast a true ballot, non-members are able to endorse in the CHP primaries. The outpouring of support from non-members indicates broad support for Imamoglu and perhaps fierce opposition to his arrest.  

CHP defines the opposition to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party. Erdogan’s party is the sixth-largest political party in the world and is somewhat new to Turkey. His party is conservative and populist. Its popularity in Turkey was hard won in the early 2000s as it successfully brought the military under civilian control and nurtured the economy through the 2008 financial crisis. However, in the 2010s, they began to lose support to claims of authoritarianism. Where the Justice and Development Party is center-right, and nationalist democratic, the CHP is center-left, and socialist democratic republican. 

The CHP is older than the Justice and Development Party and originated with the founders of modern Turkey. The CHP prioritizes joining the EU and expanding NATO and are fiercely secularist. The party platform is also against the Presidential system of governance and Turkey and hence are an even greater threat to Erdogan. Imamoglu was not a well-known member of the party previous to his candidacy for Istanbul’s mayoral office but is now one of the most popular politicians in the country.

Government critics quickly suggest the coincidence in timing between his arrest and the CHP primary. Imamoglu was the expected winner of these primaries since before his arrest, and it is hard to believe the two are not related. Preliminary polling suggested Imamoglu’s popularity surpassed President Erdogan’s.

Charged with aiding terrorism

Government supporters and Erdogan loyalists scoffed at critics. They insist that Imamoglu was corrupt, was in cahoots with Kurdish terror-aligned activists, and that the CHP primary was skewed in his favor. Truthfully enough, he was the only person on the CHP primary ballot. 

As to his support for terror, the connection is weak. The charges against him named him as a conspirator to increase the influence of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Turkey and allies in Europe and America consider the PKK a terrorist organization. The PKK has a history of militant activity in Turkey and they are primarily based in Eastern Turkey, and across the border in Syria and Iraq. On March 1 of this year, the leader of the PKK declared a ceasefire with the Turkish government.

The PKK is one of several political alliances in Turkey that in some way work for Kurdish rights. Apparently, Imamoglu’s support for Kurdish initiatives and non-militant Kurdish political parties are the primary reasons for the allegations of aiding terrorism, according to pro-government Turkish media. Other links include alleged PKK member, Azad Bariş’ endorsement of his mayoral candidacy; or a list of contacts Imamoglu made to individuals with criminal backgrounds related to terror. These charges might be more compelling if Erdogan’s government had a better reputation for supporting political opposition. However, Erdogan’s authorities are quick to throw the book at political opponents and terrorism is a popular charge for dissidents. 

Analysts worldwide are scrutinizing the move and relate it to Turkey’s steady drift into authoritarianism under President Erdogan. When Erdogan became Prime Minister in 2003 and President in 2014. Turkey had under 50,000 people imprisoned when he took leadership in the early 2000s and now incarcerates well over 300,000. Significant spikes in arrests accompany large protest movements and attempted uprisings in 2013 and 2016. Over the last several days, Turkish police arrested over 1400 people protesting Imamoglu’s arrest, including several journalists covering the protests. 

Istanbul Rising

Istanbulites have come out in force to protest their mayor’s arrest. Protests continued for __ (to be updated next week) nights straight despite a nationwide ban on street gatherings initiated in response to the Mayor’s arrest. The Turkish government arrested six other CHP Mayors of greater Istanbul and is pledging to continue the corruption probe. Photos from Istanbul demonstrate the clear rebuke of the arrests among the urban population. CHP spokespeople have called for the “biggest rallies” in Turkish history in every city. 

The protests so far have been largely peaceful with some clashes with police. President Erdogan has called the protests “dangerous” and “violent.” Imamoglu’s X account has continued a steady stream of messages in support of the protests and decrying his arrest. 

The demonstrations signify a popular push against Erdogan’s government and in support of a freer democracy. They may move the country away from authoritarianism. That being said, protests often create unrest which leaders use as cover for even more extreme measures. The next nationwide elections are scheduled for 2028. It remains to be seen whether Erdogan will continue his consolidation of power and suppression of dissent, or whether the protestors will win Imamoglu’s freedom and the country can begin re-strengthening its democracy.