Last Week’s hot topic in was the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who is widely expected to be the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the next election, on charges corruption and terrorism.
Following Imamoğlu’s detention on March 18, protests erupted in almost every city across Türkiye. Hundred thousand of citizens took to street.
The annulment of Imamoğlu’s university diploma
The first major blow to Imamoğlu came with the annulment of his university diploma.
On March 18, Istanbul University announced that the diplomas of 28 individuals, including Imamoğlu, were revoked on the grounds of “nullity” and “clear procedural error”. The university ruled that Imamoğlu’s transfer from a university in Cyprus to Istanbul University 35 years ago was not legally valid, thus rendering his diploma void.
This decision also meant that Imamoğlu could not be presidential candidate since according to Turkish law, a presidential candidate must hold a university degree.
In response, Imamoğlu issued a statement:
“They have no authority to make such a decision. The sole authority lies with the Faculty of Business Administration’s Board. Those who made this decision will soon be held accountable before history and justice. Our nation’s march for justice, law, and democracy cannot be stopped. There is no emancipation alone!”
Also, Imamoğlu’s lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, stated: “The University Board has no authority to make such a decision. This ruling is null and void.”
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, in his statement on the diploma annulment, said that it is “a dark stain, for Istanbul University, one of Türkiye’s most important university with a 600-year history. Of course, we are not discouraged by this. It only strengthens our will. On March 23, with our 1.75 million members, we will determine our presidential candidate. Ekrem Imamoğlu is our candidate. Some are trying to eliminate him by canceling his diploma out of fear, but we will not waver in our determination.”
Imamoğlu taken into custody
As Türkiye was still discussing the annulment of Ekrem Imamoğlu’s university diploma, news broke on the morning of March 19 that Imamoğlu and 108 others, most of them Istanbul Municipality employees, had been taken into custody.
Imamoğlu and his associates were detained on various charges, including “corruption”, “forming a criminal organization” and “terrorism”.
Following the announcement of his detention, the CHP called on citizens to protest in front of the Istanbul Municipality headquarters in Saraçhane and other cities and districts.
Large-scale demonstrations took place particularly in Istanbul and Ankara. Some protests led to clashes between demonstrators and police.
Political support for the protests came from various opposition parties, including the Good Party and Homeland Party.
“This is a coup attempt”
In his speech in Saraçhane on March 19, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel condemned the detention of Imamoğlu, calling it “a coup attempt”:
“It is not Özgür Özel speaking in Saraçhane today; it is Saraçhane itself, it is Istanbul speaking. Do you hear them, Erdoğan? The very thing you fear the most is crowds raising their voices!
(…) What has been happening since yesterday is a coup attempt. March 19 is a coup attempt. Today, the will of the people is being usurped by judicial intervention. The detention of Ekrem Imamoğlu, whom people of Istanbul have elected three times in a row, is an attack on the national will.
(…) There is no corruption here, no terrorist organization, no criminal network. There are only judicial executioners trying to fabricate a case. What were they supposed to say? ‘Tayyip Erdoğan is afraid of Imamoğlu, so we detained him’? The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor is merely a tool in this. We know who is behind it. Erdoğan wakes up at night, haunted by his own fears and says to himself ‘Whoever loses Istanbul loses Türkiye’. That voice, his nightmare, won’t leave him. He has failed to defeat Imamoğlu in three elections.”
Özel went on to call on citizens to take to the streets in opposition to the decision and to participate in CHP’s presidential primary elections, which was to be held across all cities and districts on March 23.
Erdoğan’s statements
The government’s response came from President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In his speech on March 20, Erdoğan accused the CHP of failing to respond to corruption allegations, stating:
“The opposition’s attempt to portray their internal conflicts and legal troubles as the country’s most pressing issue is the height of hypocrisy. (…) There is an old saying: ‘A mistake cannot be defended with another mistake.’ But our opposition thinks everyone is blind and ignorant. (…) They have lost all sense of balance, to the point of attacking our police and threatening judges, prosecutors, and courts. The CHP, its media, and other opposition factions refuse to respond to the judiciary’s accusations regarding the diploma scandal, corruption, and theft. (…) Instead, they try to deceive the public by reducing the issue to political slogans. If they said, ‘This diploma was obtained legitimately and through hard work’ we could discuss it with legal arguments. If they claimed, ‘There is no theft, corruption, or illicit dealings in the municipality’ we could debate this based on legal evidence. But they do not and cannot do any of this. Because they themselves know the truth better than anyone else.”
On the stance of the CHP and rising protests across the country Erdoğan made statements. He criticized the protests:
“I find it necessary to reiterate once more…The era of taking to the streets, aligning with leftist organizations, radicals, and vandals to challenge the national will is over. The days when street violence dictated the course of politics and justice have been left behind along with the old Türkiye. Türkiye is a democratic country, a state governed by the rule of law—an independent nation where the supremacy of law prevails, not the law of the powerful. If you have the courage, let democracy take its course. Let the law take its course.”
And on the CHP, he wrote on X:
“What we have witnessed over the last five days has once again shown this truth:
A large country like Türkiye has an opposition party that is very small, very primitive, and very inadequate in terms of foresight, vision, and quality. It has once again become clear that even a municipal kiosk should not be entrusted to them.”
Nationwide tensions rise on March 22
On the night of March 22, as Imamoğlu’s police interrogation concluded and he was transferred to court, tensions escalated across the country.
Authorities restricted entry and exit to Istanbul for those suspected of joining protests. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) issued directives to media channels, instructing them to cut live broadcasts that could incite demonstrations.
Clashes erupted between protesters and the police in Saraçhane Square and in front of Çağlayan Courthouse, where Imamoğlu was taken to interrogation.
That same night, Vatan Party Chairman Doğu Perinçek also made a statement: “Beware! Blind hatred against Tayyip Erdoğan is blinding unconscious crowds. They fail to see the corruption, the alliance with separatists, or that they are being dragged into Atlanticist plots.”
Imamoğlu arrested on the morning of the CHP’s presidential primary election
On the morning of March 23, the day of the CHP’s presidential primary election, where Imamoğlu was the only candidate, he was arrested by the on-duty Criminal Court of Peace on corruption charges. He was acquitted of terrorism charges.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued the following statement regarding Imamoğlu’s arrest:
“As part of the ongoing investigations, the on-duty Criminal Court of Peace has ruled for the arrest of suspect Ekrem Imamoğlu on charges of forming and leading a criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, unlawful recording of personal data, and bid rigging. Although there is strong suspicion regarding the charge of aiding an armed terrorist organization, since he has already been arrested on financial crimes, no further action was deemed necessary at this stage, and the request for arrest on this charge was denied.”
15 million votes in the primary elections
At the very moment Imamoğlu was arrested, voters across the country were heading to the polls set up by the CHP to participate in the party’s presidential primary election. The next presidential election is due to take place in 2028.
Vote’s organisers stated that people votes in all 82 cities of Türkiye and around 15 million people participated in the election. 13,211,000 of this 15 million are not members of the CHP.
Following the election, Özgur Özel wrote on X “Today’s results have completely opened Erdogan’s legitimacy to question and made an early election ballot box inevitable. Let’s come out and challenge!” Imamoğlu, in a statement from prison, said the “record level of participation” in the primary made him “very happy”.
Imamoğlu also shared a statement on X : “Fear will not save you! You will be defeated one way or another! You will be defeated by our righteousness, our courage, our humility, and our smiles!
My dear nation, do not be saddened, do not lose hope. We will remove this stain, this coup against our democracy, together.
The day is near when those responsible for this process will be held accountable—both in this world and in the presence of the Almighty in the hereafter.
I call on all 86 million citizens to rush to the ballot boxes, to make our struggle for democracy and justice heard across the world. I stand tall, and I will never bow.
Everything will be beautiful!”
Claims of trustee appointment to CHP
Alongside the legal process that led to Imamoğlu’s arrest, allegations surfaced that the judiciary could appoint a trustee to take over the leadership of the CHP.
In response to this possibility, CHP leader Özgür Özel decided to convene an extraordinary party congress. In a statement on March 21, Özel said:
“Today, we have witnessed a new attempt, a new maneuver. We have seen preparations to appoint a trustee to the CHP in an effort to obstruct this primary election. In response, I am announcing the application we submitted today: Relying on the authority granted to me by our party’s bylaws, I have decided to convene an extraordinary congress in 15 days, thereby blocking any trustee intervention. We are heading to the congress on April 6.”
Following Özel’s announcement, debates continue among legal experts and the public about whether a trustee could indeed be appointed to the CHP.