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LBCI
4 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Turkish authorities detain 109 in Izmir as part of corruption probe, Anadolu news says
Turkish authorities detained 109 people, including opposition party members and a former mayor, on Tuesday in Izmir, the Anadolu state news agency said, expanding a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition that had been focused on Istanbul. The Izmir prosecutor ordered the detention of a total of 157 people in the early morning hours as part of an investigation into corruption, tender rigging, and fraud in the western coastal city, Anadolu reported. Police are continuing efforts to find the remaining 48 people, it added. Murat Bakan, an Izmir lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) - which has faced waves of arrests since late last year - said former Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer had been detained along with senior officials and a provincial chairman of the party. "We woke up to another dawn operation today. We are facing a process similar to what happened in Istanbul," Bakan said on X, adding that the judicial system appeared to be "acting on instructions." Reuters
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Turkish authorities detain 109 in Izmir as part of corruption investigation
Turkish authorities detained 109 people, including opposition party members and a former mayor, on Tuesday in Izmir, the Anadolu state news agency said, expanding a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition that had been focused on Istanbul. The Izmir prosecutor ordered the detention of a total of 157 people in the early morning hours as part of an investigation into corruption, tender rigging and fraud in the western coastal city, Anadolu reported. Police are continuing efforts to find the remaining 48 people, it added. Murat Bakan, an Izmir politician from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) – which has faced waves of arrests since late last year – said former Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer had been detained along with senior officials and a provincial chairman of the party. 'We woke up to another dawn operation today. We are facing a process similar to what happened in Istanbul,' Bakan said on X, adding that the judicial system appeared to be 'acting on instructions'. READ MORE Those arrested in Turkey's broader crackdown include Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu , the main political rival of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan . Mr Imamoglu was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies. That sparked the largest street protests in a decade and a sharp sell-off in Turkish assets. The CHP denies the charges levelled against it. Along with some western countries, the CHP and rights groups have called the crackdown a politicised move to eliminate electoral challenges to Erdogan and silence dissent. The government denies these claims, saying Turkey's judiciary and courts are independent. According to the prosecutor's statement published by Anadolu news, the investigation into Izmir municipality found that irregularities in tenders and expenses involving subcontractor companies had caused public loss. Meanwhile, a cartoon in a Turkish satirical magazine depicting what appeared to be prophets Muhammad and Moses was an 'Islamophobic hate crime', the spokesperson for Mr Erdogan's ruling party said on Tuesday. The comments amplify a wave of official condemnation a day after four cartoonists at the Leman magazine were detained over the drawing. The cartoon, published a few days after the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, appears to show Muhammad, who Muslims believe is the final prophet, and Moses, one of Judaism's most important prophets, shaking hands in the sky while missiles fly below in a wartime scene. It was also criticised by religious conservatives, even as the magazine apologised to readers who felt offended and said it had been misunderstood. More than 200 people arrived to protest against Leman in central Istanbul on Tuesday, despite a ban on gatherings and heavy police presence. 'This has nothing to do with art, ideas, freedom of expression or artistic freedom,' Omer Celik, the ruling AK Party spokesperson, told reporters in Ankara. 'In our view, this is a hate crime – an act of hostility directly targeting Islam, prophet Moses and our prophet.' Mr Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted AK Party regularly criticise what they call Islamophobic acts in secular Turkey and across Europe. Muslims see depictions of the prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. In a statement on X, Leman said 'the work does not refer to the prophet Muhammad in any way'. The cartoonist, Dogan Pehlevan, had sought to highlight 'the suffering of a Muslim man killed in Israeli attacks', it said, adding there was no intent to insult Islam or its prophet. The magazine urged authorities to counter what it called a smear campaign and to protect freedom of expression. Several civil society groups condemned the detentions, calling them a violation of freedom of thought and expression. Turkey's freedom of expression ranking is low due to restrictions on media and public discourse. Reporters Without Borders ranked it 158th out of 180 countries in its 2024 Press Freedom Index. Late on Monday, interior minister Ali Yerlikaya shared a video on X showing police officers detaining Mr Pehlevan with his hands cuffed behind his back as he was dragged up a stairwell. He also shared videos of three other men being removed from their homes and dragged into vans, one of them barefoot. 'The individual who drew this vile image, DP, has been apprehended and taken into custody. These shameless people will be held accountable before the law,' Mr Yerlikaya wrote. The government said an inquiry was launched under a penal code article that criminalises incitement to hatred and enmity, and that detention orders had been issued for six people in total. – Reuters
LBCI
5 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Turkey arrests 120 in opposition bastion of Izmir
Turkish police have arrested 120 city hall members in the opposition bastion of Izmir, local media and the CHP opposition party said on Tuesday. A former mayor and numerous "senior officials" were among those detained, Murat Bakan, the vice president of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which has run the country's third-largest city for years, wrote on X. The arrests came three months after a similar operation in opposition-run Istanbul. AFP
Asharq Al-Awsat
04-06-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Türkiye Arrests Five Mayors from CHP Opposition Party
Turkish police arrested five opposition mayors early Wednesday alongside 17 others as part of a probe into corruption allegations at CHP-held municipalities, a party spokesman told AFP. The latest arrests targeted a former lawmaker and three CHP mayors in Istanbul, and two more in the southern province of Adana, the spokesman said. The latest round of arrests brings to nine the total number of jailed CHP mayors, including Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- the main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The latest investigation began at the weekend when a court issued arrest orders for 47 municipal officials in connection with four separate corruption investigations centered on Istanbul, local media reported. The March 19 arrest and jailing of Imamoglu sparked the biggest street protests Türkiye had seen in more than a decade. Police had already detained nearly 70 people in subsequent raids linked to alleged corruption at Istanbul City Hall, including Imamoglu's private secretary and his private protection officer. The CHP has nominated Imamoglu as its candidate in presidential elections due in 2028 but whether he can run in the elections depends on the fate of numerous trials and probes.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Turkey arrests dozens including opposition party members
Turkish authorities have ordered the arrests of dozens of people facing corruption allegations, including opposition party members, in Istanbul and the city of Adana. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued detention orders for 47 people and detained 30. Others detained included local municipal mayors and Istanbul officials. The operation is the fifth wave of arrests against the government's political opponents, starting with the jailing of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, regarded as President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival in March. Turkey's government has rejected claims of political interference, insisting the judiciary is independent. Imamoglu sent a letter from prison to an opposition rally on Saturday, saying: "It is time to say "enough is enough" to this unjust and unlawful order." "Now you are taking our district mayors with fictitious excuses. What will you do? Where will you stop? Are you going to throw 16 million Istanbulites in jail one by one?" he said in the letter. Imamoglu is part of the Republican People's Party (CHP), who have been leading in many polls against Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. He was jailed over charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group. He has denied all charges. His arrest triggered mass protests and arrests across Turkey. The Istanbul prosecutor's office has said 819 people arrested in protests will be tried in 20 criminal investigations. Some 110 people were arrested in the first four waves of arrests under corruption allegations. The fifth wave on Saturday consisted of four different operations in two cities. Municipal mayors, CHP party members and city officials were among those arrested. CHP Party Assembly member Baki Aydöner wrote on X that he was in Ankara for a party meeting when his wife called and told him that the house was searched and there was a detention order against him. He said he was going to Istanbul. The UN's human rights office said in March it was "very concerned" at the mass arrests, with Amnesty International at the time calling the detentions "draconian actions". Who is Turkish opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu? Erdogan's main rival in Turkey makes first court appearance since arrest Hundreds arrested in crackdown on May Day protests in Istanbul
