The detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, has sent shockwaves through Turkish society. He was snatched from his bedroom at the break of dawn on Wednesday in an operation that involved more than 400 police officers. At least 106 other people were also detained in the dragnet, with more arrests expected.
Among the others detained are the mayors of Şişli and Beylikdüzü in Istanbul, members of the main opposition party, CHP (The Republican People's Party). Prominent journalist İsmail Saymaz and famous pop singer and composer Ercan Saatçi were also detained—the charges: aiding the overthrow of the government.
The recent arrests were a culmination of weeks of detentions and investigations of mayors, municipal council members, and CHP members, as well as directors of artists' agencies, industrialists, journalists, and other political party leaders. Some have been detained for their statements regarding the economy, others on corruption charges, and some for participating in the Gezi Park protests in 2013.
The latter—which saw waves of demonstrations and civil unrest that started in İstanbul and spread to the rest of the country—remains a sore point for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP (Justice and Development Party).
Given İmamoğlu’s growing prominence in Turkish politics, it became increasingly apparent that he was the ultimate target of the ongoing crackdown. Within this context, his arrest isn’t entirely surprising. It followed a sustained government campaign against him—especially the attorney general’s probe into the validity of his university diploma from Istanbul University, recently revoked 31 years after he graduated.
The allegations about İmamoğlu's diploma surfaced following claims made to CİMER—the Presidential Communication Centre system allowing Turkish citizens to field their complaints and comments—upon which the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation on 22 February 2025 on charges of “forgery of official documents”.
The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at Istanbul University, who had previously concluded in his report that there was “no irregularity” regarding İmamoğlu's diploma, resigned from his post a few days ago, citing “fatigue from long-term management and the recent process”. But CHP leader Özgür Özel said he resigned under government pressure to rescind his report.
Growing popularity
First serving as mayor of the Beylikdüzü district in Istanbul, İmamoğlu went on to win the hairsplitting Istanbul mayor election of 2019 against his AKP rival by only 13,000 votes. But AKP objections were taken to the Supreme Election Board, which annulled the election and called for another round.
