Turkey detains 10 officials in crackdown on opposition in Istanbul

Turkish police on Tuesday detained 10 senior officials from opposition-run district municipalities in Istanbul over their alleged links to Kurdish militants, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

The arrests, which include deputy mayors and municipal council members, are the latest in a widening crackdown on opposition-led districts in Turkey’s largest city.

Among those detained are the deputy mayors of Kartal and Ataşehir, along with eight district municipal council members, all of whom belong to the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition party.

The suspects are accused of appointing individuals with alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to municipal positions, thereby allowing the group to infiltrate local governments, Anadolu reported.

Critics say the detentions are part of a government campaign to discredit Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen as a potential future challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s, along with other opposition figures in the city.

İmamoğlu, who has faced multiple legal challenges since taking office, directly blamed Erdoğan for the arrests. In a statement on X, he said the detentions were a result of the “whims of one person who considers himself above the will of the people”.

In 2022, İmamoğlu was convicted of insulting public officials, a charge that could result in a five-year ban from politics if upheld by higher courts.

Erdoğan’s government has denied exerting pressure on the judiciary, insisting that Turkey’s courts function independently.

Since last year’s local elections, where the CHP made significant gains nationwide, several of its elected officials have been arrested or removed from office.

In Esenyurt, the mayor was arrested last year over alleged PKK links, while earlier this year, the Beşiktaş mayor was detained on bid-rigging and bribery charges, with both mayors rejecting the allegations.

Additionally, several pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) mayors have been ousted and replaced by government-appointed trustees due to alleged PKK affiliations, a claim the DEM party strongly denies.