Turkey’s authorities have detained President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as part of an investigation into corruption and terror links.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors also issued warrants for around 100 other people, including businessmen and journalists.
Imamoglu said in a post early Wednesday that hundreds of police were in front of his house.
Broadcaster CNNTurk reported that police forces were searching his property as part of a probe.
His press aide was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying Imamoglu “was detained and is now at police headquarters.”
Imamoglu’s detention comes a day after Istanbul University announced it was revoking his university diploma over irregularities—dealing a major blow to his ambition to run for president in the country’s next election.
To run for president, a candidate must have a university degree.
The university said it was declaring the graduations and degrees of 28 people, including Imamoglu, as being “void” because of “obvious error.”
Imamoglu: The main rival of Erdogan in Turkey
Imamoglu, a popular opposition politician from the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP), was set to be nominated as his party’s pick for presidential candidate this weekend.
Imamoglu has been twice elected mayor of Istanbul, in 2019 and 2023, beating candidates from Erdogan’s ruling conservative Justice and Development (AKP) party.
The mayoral race in Istanbul has particular resonance since Erdogan launched his political career there, serving as mayor in the 1990s.
Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics since becoming prime minister in 2003 and must hold elections before they are scheduled in 2028 if he wants to run again under the constitution.
Imamoglu: ‘I will not give up’
Responding to the decision to annul his university diploma, ahead of his detention, Imamoglu wrote on X: “We will take this illegitimate decision to court and fight it.”
“I will not give up, I will not get tired. Ekrem is not the subject of this action anymore, the entire nation is, everything people have earned and achieved is in danger,” he said.
But he said he had no faith that the ruling would be fair, citing political pressure on the judiciary.
Critics say Turkish courts bend to Erdogan’s will. The government says the judiciary is independent.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, also widely seen as an alternative CHP presidential candidate, backed Imamoglu and said the party would take legal action against the university’s decision.
Related: Pontos-Born Imamoglu Wins Race for Istanbul
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