Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is facing two charges of "corruption" and "supporting a terrorist organization," Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters in Ankara on Tuesday. The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul was followed by riots, even though the Erdogan regime had banned demonstrations and gatherings since the morning, while the Turkish lira plummeted and the Turkish Stock Exchange was forced to stop trading due to an unprecedented sell-off.
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The world community froze this morning, as at 5 am (local Turkish time), the mayor of Istanbul and Erdogan's strongest opponent, Ekrem Imamoglu, was arrested.
Ekrem İmamoğlu has been formally charged with "corruption" and "supporting a terrorist organization", while there is already unrest in Turkey, with incidents between students and police, despite official bans by the Erdogan regime on demonstrations and gatherings, today in Turkey.
"As part of this investigation, (seven) suspects, including the mayor of the Istanbul metropolitan area, are accused of aiding a terrorist organization by participating in it," the minister said, confirming reports. At the same time, he stressed that any association of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with ongoing legal actions, including the arrest of Imamoglu, is in favor of the limits and amounts to insolence.
Tunc said no one is above the law in Turkish courts, which are independent. He added that the streets are not the place to defend justice, saying that using words like "coup" to characterize legal proceedings is wrong and dangerous.
Students at Istanbul University supporting Ekrem İmamoğlu broke through police barricades during a demonstration against his arrest and police used tear gas, local media reported, and the impact of the Istanbul mayor's arrest has already shaken the country.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, the politician considered the main opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained by police on Monday after a spectacular raid on his home, just 24 hours before he was named the main opposition candidate for the presidency in the next election.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) called for nationwide protests following Imamoglu's arrest. The CHP called for a rally at party offices across the country at 2 p.m. However, the party said there would be no protests in Istanbul, the country's most populous city of more than 16 million people, due to a multi-day ban on demonstrations imposed by the city's governor. The CHP condemned Imamoglu's arrest as a "coup" aimed at ousting Erdogan's political rival.
The mayor's wife, Dilek İmamoğlu, holds Erdogan responsible for her husband's detention. The real reason for his arrest is that he defeated his challengers at the ballot box, he said in a video. "We live in a dictatorship," 40-year-old Kuzai, a shopkeeper on a street overlooking Istanbul's Taksim Square, told AFP.
Four riot-fighting vehicles equipped with water cannons line up at the top of the stairs overlooking the huge square, around which metal barriers were erected this morning to prevent any gatherings at the site that became the epicenter, in 2013, of a wave of protests against Erdogan, then prime minister.
In front of the police headquarters where İmamoğlu has been held since dawn, hundreds of people, at a distance from police barriers, gathered to shout "İmamoğlu, you are not alone!", "Government Resign!" or "One day the scales will tip and the AKP will be accountable to the people".
"They are conducting a coup right now against Ekrem Imamoglu, who has defeated Erdogan four times at the ballot box since 2019 with the will of the people," said Bulent Gülten, a protester, referring to the 2019 and 2024 municipal elections, when İmamoğlu's CHP defeated ruling party candidates with landslide victories in most major cities in the country.
Turkish lira collapses after Imamoglu's arrest
On the famous Istiklal Street, in Istanbul, hundreds of people stand in line at bureaux de change. The arrest of the city's mayor hit an already volatile Turkish lira, which hit a new record low against the dollar and euro in the morning.
In front of one of the bureaux de change, 63-year-old Hassan Yildiz denounced a "coup" against the mayor. "In the past it was soldiers who spearheaded coups, but today politicians are the ones who turn against each other," he said in a calm voice, despite a police car parked ten meters away.
"Foreign investors will no longer invest in Turkey. Who would want to invest in a country without justice or the rule of law?" Stressed.
As a result, the Turkish lira fell more than 12.7% against the US dollar and touched a new record low of 42 per dollar, today, March 19, 2025.
The previous drop to 42 marked one of the lira's biggest absolute intraday movements on record.
Panic
prevailed in the Turkish market after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plunging the lira and causing a sell-off in the stock market resulting in a halt to trading.
Government bond yields jumped to their highest levels this year as investors liquidate the country's assets.
In particular, the Borsa Istanbul 100 index fell almost 7% at the opening, resulting in a suspension of trading in accordance with the rules of the stock exchange. Shares were 4.6% lower when trading resumed.
Government 10-year bonds fell, sending yields 175 basis points higher to 29.94%.
Minutes before his arrest, as he prepared to follow police officers to the station, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu posted a video:
