5 mayors are suspended from duty as authorities expand the crackdown on Turkey’s opposition
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2025 (444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish authorities suspended five elected mayors from duty Thursday as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country’s opposition.
Separately, prosecutors launched an investigation into the leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, over comments made in a speech Wednesday evening. Ozgur Ozel had criticized Istanbul’s chief prosecutor following the jailing of the mayors the previous day as part of a corruption investigation.
Officials from municipalities controlled by the CHP have faced waves of arrests this year, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was detained in March over allegations of corruption.
Many consider the cases to be politically motivated although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government insists the courts are impartial and free of political involvement.
Imamoglu is widely viewed as the main challenger to Erdogan’s two-decade rule and is the CHP’s candidate for a presidential election due in 2028, but which could be held earlier.
Istanbul and a clutch of major cities fell to the CHP in 2019, with the opposition extending its control in last year’s municipal elections.
The five suspended mayors represent the Istanbul districts of Avcilar, Buyukcekmece and Gaziosmanpasa, as well as Seyhan and Ceyhan in the Mediterranean province of Adana. Their suspensions were announced by the Interior Ministry after they were detained over claims of bribery and extortion.
A total of 11 mayors, including Imamoglu, have now been removed from office as part of investigations into CHP municipalities. Dozens of other officials have been imprisoned awaiting trial.
Imamoglu’s jailing led to the largest protests in Turkey for more than a decade, with demonstrators complaining of judicial abuses and wider democratic backsliding under Erdogan.
Speaking in Gaziosmanpasa on Wednesday evening, Ozel criticized Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akin Gurlek, who has been the focus of opposition claims of political interference. This led to Gurlek’s office launching an investigation into charges of “threatening a judicial officer” and “insulting a public official.”