Nearly fifty relatives and supporters of the Opposition mayor of Istanbul, imprisoned at the end of March, were arrested as part of the corruption investigation, said on Saturday, April 26, the prosecution of the Turkish city. “As part of the investigation, arrest warrants were issued against 53 people” in Istanbul and Ankara in particular, of which “47 were arrested”The Istanbul public prosecutor's office announced in a statement.
Ekrem Imamoglu, one of the fiercest opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested on March 19 and placed in detention on March 25; He is accused, among other things, of corruption, when he was to be appointed by his party, the CHP, as his candidate for the future presidential election, in principle planned in 2028.
Among the people arrested on Saturday morning, according to the Turkish press, are the chief of staff of the mayor, Kadriye Kasapoglu, the brother of his wife Dilek Imamoglu, the head of the administration responsible for waters and former officials of the town hall. According to the information site Bir Günclose to the opposition, searches were still underway on Saturday morning at the home of the people concerned, in Istanbul, Ankara and Tekird.
A decree channel project
For the provincial official of the Republican Democratic Party (CHP) of Istanbul, Özgür Celik, these arrests are linked to the opposition of the municipality to the large controversial project “Kanal Istanbul”, supposed to double the maritime path of the Bosphorus.
The project, presented in April 2011 by Recep Tayyip Erdogan – then Prime Minister – would connect the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea in order to unclog the Bosphorus Strait, 50 kilometers long, 150 meters wide and 25 meters deep. It is strongly criticized by environmental defenders because it would encroach on natural and agricultural land and alter the reservoir basin which partially supplies Istanbul with water.
“Today's operation is not a coincidence”says Celik on the social network X, explaining that the Mégapole Water and Pips Administration (ISKI) ordered the demolition and stopping construction sites along the channel route. “Employees of the municipality who opposed [au projet] are currently at the main police station “he added. “The price that the minority government pays for our country becomes heavier every day”he accused.
Vice-president of the CHP group in Parliament, the first opposition force, Gökhan Günaydin, also said that “The real reason for these arrests is the Istanbul canal” and estimated that “The Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul has become practically inoperative”deprived of the majority of its executives.
Source: Lemonde