Why Türkiye erupted with the arrest of a mayor? The biggest protest starts after 12 years
On Sunday, 23 March, a Turkish court put the chief political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan and Istanbul’s Mayor Acrem Imamoglu in jail until the trial was pending in corruption charges. After this, the country’s biggest protest has started in Türkiye in more than a decade. The action of sending Imamoglu to jail has been criticized as political and undemocratic. Criticism is being done by main opposition parties, European leaders and hundreds of thousands of protesters.
Who is Acrem Imamoglu?
Imamoglu was elected the mayor of Istanbul in 2019 and he won the election for this post last year. Istanbul is the largest city in Türkiye. The populated here is about 1.6 crore and it is the business center of the country. After winning the election here, 53 -year -old Imamoglu has become the number one opponent of President Erdogan in Turkish politics.
What are the allegations against Acrem Imamoglu?
The Mayor was detained on Wednesday, 19 March. Imamoglu comes from the CHP party and was accused of “corruption” and “supporting a terrorist organization” due to an electoral agreement with a Kurdish supporter party. The officials who were talking about the Kurdish party, were accused of having a relationship with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been called a terrorist group by Ankara.
Imamoglu has been dismissed from the post of Mayor and has been jailed,
Attack on Imamoglu’s party just before the election
The arrest of Imamoglu, who is widely capable of challenging President Erdogan, has given rise to Turkey’s biggest protest in more than a decade. The Imamoglu Republican is a member of the People’s Party (CHP), a social-locomotive and secular party formed by Mustafa Kamal, who founded the Republic of Türkiye.
The timing of Imamoglu’s arrest is also pointing towards this. Imamoglu was to be nominated as CHP candidate for the next presidential election to be held in 2028 on Sunday, in which he is the only candidate. And on this day he was officially arrested. Not only this, his degree was also canceled before being detained on Wednesday. Significantly, according to the Constitution of Türkiye, all the presidents of the presidential candidates must have a degree of higher education.
Such a big performance after 12 years
Imamoglu’s arrest has given rise to the country’s biggest demonstrations since the 2013 Giji protests. The 2013 Giji demonstration began when a local park was demolished in Istanbul.
According to the AFP report, this time on Friday and Saturday evening, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Istanbul and there were major demonstrations in other cities, especially Ankara and Izamir. According to AFP Tally, overall, at least 55 out of 81 provinces of Türkiye, or more than two-thirds of the country were held.