"You cannot remain silent," Istanbul mayor tells Turkish judiciary after arrest

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been under arrest since Wednesday, on Thursday urged the judiciary to "act" and not remain "silent," in a message posted on the X social network by his lawyers.

"I call on the tens of thousands of honorable and moral prosecutors and judges. They must rise up and act against those colleagues who are ruining the judiciary, they must not and cannot remain silent," wrote Imamoglu, the main opponent of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As part of the lengthy message on the social network, the Turkish politician added: "I told my nation and warned them that this mind, which confiscates my diploma, will seize your property, honor and dignity, and commit all kinds of usurpations and violations. As a nation, we must stand against this evil. This is my appeal to my nation. The nation is great."

The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul

Turkish authorities arrested last March 19 Ekrem Imamoglu, charged with "corruption," "terrorism" and "aiding the PKK," the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

In addition, six collaborators and party colleagues of Imamoglu were also arrested in the same operation.

According to AFP, which compiled the information transmitted by the public news agency Anadolu, Imamoglu and the rest of those arrested were immediately transferred to police headquarters.

"We are in a dictatorship."

Moments after the arrest of Imamoglu and his collaborators became known, thousands of his supporters took to the streets to protest against this procedure and against the Erdogan government and show their support for the Istanbul mayor.

Security forces closed Taksim Square, an emblematic place in the city where most of the demonstrations usually concentrate. As a result, Imamoglu's supporters had to move to other thoroughfares to protest the arrest.

Turkish authorities have been following Imamoglu for years. In 2023, before the presidential elections were held, Justice prevented the mayor from being able to run in his party's primaries because he had a suspended sentence for "insulting" election committee officials. A few days ago, Istanbul University annulled his diploma, which is necessary for a citizen to run for election.