Turkey Jails 18 More Opposition-Linked Istanbul Officials in Widening Clampdown

The city’s opposition-affiliated mayor was arrested last month on corruption and terrorism-related charges that critics say are politically motivated.

Istanbul police face off against protesters on April 19, 2025. Kemal Aslan/AFP via Getty Images

An Istanbul court has jailed 18 opposition-linked municipal officials pending trial on graft charges, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency confirmed on April 30.

The move comes amid an ongoing clampdown on officials affiliated with the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition party.

Over the weekend, local authorities detained 47 other opposition-linked Istanbul officials on similar charges of corruption.

The detentions follow the arrest last month of Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s CHP-affiliated mayor, on corruption and terrorism-related charges.

Long seen as a potential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Imamoglu remains in detention pending trial.

Imamoglu and his supporters, along with other critics of Erdogan’s long-ruling AK Party, say the charges against him are politically motivated.

His initial arrest on March 19 sparked Turkey’s largest wave of opposition protests in more than a decade.

The CHP, along with smaller opposition parties, has continued to organize weekly protests in Istanbul to demand Imamoglu’s release and reinstatement as mayor.

More than 2,000 people, including several journalists, have been arrested for taking part in the protests despite an ongoing ban on large public gatherings.

Since Imamoglu’s arrest last month, scores of other opposition-linked municipal officials have been detained by authorities.

In response to the fresh spate of arrests over the weekend, Imamoglu accused the government of resorting to “lies and slander” to sideline its political opponents.

“I will defend every one of my colleagues to the very end throughout this process,” he wrote in a social media post. “Nobody will be left behind. These days will pass.”

Mayors Ousted

In local polls held last year, CHP mayoral candidates were elected in Istanbul, Izmir, the capital Ankara, and several other municipalities across the country.

In the months leading up to Imamoglu’s arrest, two other CHP-linked mayors—both in the province of Istanbul—were removed from their posts after being convicted of corruption and terrorism-related charges.

CHP leader Ozgür Ozel (C) sits next to an empty seat reserved for arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu at an extraordinary party congress in Ankara on April 6, 2025. Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images

Within the same period, eight other mayors in eastern Turkey, all of whom were affiliated with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, were removed from their posts following similar convictions.

All of the mayors denied the charges against them. They said their convictions—and subsequent removal from office—were motivated by political considerations.

In February, the Strasbourg-based European Parliament condemned what it described as the “arbitrary dismissal and imprisonment of democratically elected mayors” by the Turkish authorities.

The government has dismissed the criticism, saying Turkey’s judicial apparatus functions independently of the ruling party.

Reuters contributed to this report.