Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on Wednesday, accused of corruption and aiding a terrorist group, according to Turkish media, prompting protests from opposition and government critics.
Mr Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, and was set to be nominated this week as the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate for Turkey's next elections.
More than 100 people gathered near the capital city's police headquarters, where Mr Imamoglu was taken after being arrested, chanting support for the mayor and anti-government slogans.
“Ekrem Imamoglu is growing and gaining strength in the eyes of the people,” one of the protesters said.
Local news outlets reported that a large group of security personnel surrounded Mr Imamoglu’s home before taking him into custody.
Early in the morning, Mr Imamoglu’s media adviser Murat Ongun said in a post on X that he was also being detained, but did not give a reason.
Before his arrest, Mr Imamoglu said on X that hundreds of police were in front of his house. He said he would not give up and would continue resisting pressure.
Turkish authorities have also ordered the arrest of about 100 other suspects including journalists and businesspeople as part of the corruption investigation.
Some social media platforms and messaging apps, including X, WhatsApp and TikTok, were briefly restricted in Turkey, according to NTV.
The Turkish lira fell 12.7 per cent and hit a record low of 42 to the US dollar on Wednesday, following the arrest of the mayor, before clawing back some of its losses. It now trades at 39.3 to the dollar, from a close of 36.67 on Tuesday, in what looked set to be its largest absolute daily move on record.
Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Wednesday that everything necessary was being done to ensure markets were functioning healthily after the lira, stocks and bonds took a substantial hit.
In his first comments following his arrest Mr Imamoglu said the Turkish people would give the necessary response to “lies, plots and traps” against him.
He shared a handwritten message on his X account hours after his arrest, which prompted protests and criticism from the opposition.
Mr Imamoglu's detention comes after his university diploma was annulled, disqualifying him from the elections. Istanbul University announced on Tuesday that it was revoking it over alleged irregularities.
According to Turkey's election laws, a candidate must have a university degree to run for president. The graduations and degrees of Mr Imamoglu and 27 others were declared void because of an “obvious error”, said the university.
“We will take this illegitimate decision to court and fight it,” Mr Imamoglu said on X in response to the university's move. However, he did not think a legal challenge would lead to a fair result. With appeals potentially running all the way to the constitutional court, it would probably take years for the case to be resolved.
Turkey is scheduled to vote for its next president in 2028.
Who is Ekrem Imamoglu?
Mr Imamoglu is a popular opposition politician from the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP).
He has been twice elected mayor of Istanbul, in 2019 and 2023, beating candidates from Mr Erdogan's ruling conservative Justice and Development (AKP) party.
The mayoral race in Istanbul has particular importance since Mr Erdogan launched his political career there, serving as mayor in the 1990s.
Mr Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics since becoming prime minister in 2003 and must hold elections before they are scheduled in 2028 if he wants to run again under the constitution.
Turkish politics has stepped into a “new terrain” as the “unthinkable” occurred with the arrest of the popular mayor, Soner Cagaptay, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said.
“In 1999, Turkey’s political system created its anti-hero, by jailing then Istanbul mayor Mr Erdogan (on sham charges). He entered prison as a mayor, but left it as a political star,” he posted on X.
Arresting Mr Imamoglu “will have the same effect on his brand – catapulting him to political stardom”.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the move by Turkish authorities as “politically motivated” and has called for Mr Imamoglu's release.
