ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish authorities ordered the detention of several opposition party members in Istanbul and raided opposition-run municipalities on Saturday, state media said, part of a widening legal crackdown against the opposition and city’s jailed mayor.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is also President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival and leads him in some polls, was jailed in March pending trial over charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group, all of which he denies.
The arrest of the mayor, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), triggered mass protests, economic turmoil, and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government denies this and says the judiciary is independent.
Since Imamoglu’s arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities. Access to Imamoglu’s X account was also blocked in Turkey this month.
On Saturday, the state-owned Anadolu news agency and private broadcaster NTV reported that detention warrants had been issued for 47 people in four separate graft investigations, with 28 of those being detained.
Among those detained was former CHP lawmaker Aykut Erdogdu, the mayors of several districts in Istanbul, senior staff at the Istanbul municipality or institutions tied to it, and the mayors of two districts in the southern province of Adana, according to Anadolu.
It said police also searched the buildings of the Avcilar, Buyukcekmece, Gaziosmanpasa, Seydan, and Ceyhan municipalities, whose mayors were ordered detained as part of the probe.
In response to the new wave of detentions, the CHP called an emergency meeting in Istanbul, NTV reported.
Some Western countries, rights groups and the CHP have said repeatedly that the operations are anti-democratic and aimed at quashing the opposition’s electoral prospects. Imamoglu and his CHP have said there is no concrete evidence against him.
Opinion polls show that popular support for Imamoglu has risen since his arrest, extending his lead over Erdogan and reinforcing the view that he would be Erdogan’s main rival in the next presidential election, not due until 2028.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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