🇹🇷 Istanbul mayor DETAINED: reactions and economic backlash
▪️Ekrem Imamoglu, who was seen as a main political rival of President Erdogan, has been accused of being a member of a criminal organization, extortion, bribery and aggravated fraud.
▪️The Istanbul University has annulled Imamoglu’s degree over alleged irregularities, in a move that he rejected as “illegal”. Without a university degree, he would be disqualified from running for president.
▪️The detention comes before Turkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is due to hold a primary election, where Imamoglu was expected to be picked as the party’s presidential candidate.
How did politicians react?
🔻CHP leader Ozgur Ozel slammed Imamoglu’s arrest as “a coup attempt against our [Turkiye’s] next president.”
🔻CHP deputy chairman Ilhan Uzgel accused the government of using the Istabul mayor’s detention as an "instrument to intimidate" Turkiye’s opposition.
🔻“A handful of people who are trying to steal the will of the people, have sent […] the security forces implicating them in this wrongful doing,” Imamoglu himself wrote on X, referring to his arrest.
Meanwhile, Erdogan’s office has condemned “baseless slander” against the Turkish president amid the mayor’s detention.
What’s the economic backlash?
🔸The Istanbul Stock Exchange’s main index plummeted by 7% over the news of Imamoglu’s arrest, resulting in a temporary halt to trading to prevent panic selling.
🔸The Turkish lira made a record fall in the aftermath of the Istanbul mayor’s detention, dropping to 41 against the US dollar.
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