File image.
Turkish authorities arrested the lawyer of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as protests over the crackdown on the opposition leader went on.
“My lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” Imamoglu said in a post to the X social network on March 27. “As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves.”
The opposition leader went on to accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government of wanting “to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy.”
“The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing. Release my lawyer immediately,” he added.
Politico, citing Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, said that Pehlivan was taken to a police station but no criminal charges were immediately announced.
Imamoglu was arrested on May 19 on corruption and terrorism charges before he was expected to be nominated as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) main candidate for the presidency. Earlier on March 24, the popular opposition leader was jailed and stripped of his duties pending trial over the corruption charges.
Overnight, protests against the crackdown on Imamoglu continued in Istanbul and a number of other Turkish cities. Clashes with riot police were reported.
In a guest op-ed for The New York Times on March 28, Imamoglu accused Erdogan of turning Turkey into a “republic of fear” by dismantling democratic institutions and suppressing critics.
“For years, Mr Erdogan’s regime has gnawed away at democratic checks and balances – silencing the media, replacing elected mayors with bureaucrats, sidelining the legislature, controlling the judiciary and manipulating elections,” the leader wrote.
“The large-scale arrests of protesters and journalists in recent months have sent a chilling message: No one is safe,” he warned.
The opposition leader also criticized what he described as international “silence” over the recent acts of the Turkish government.
“But central governments around the world? Their silence is deafening,” he wrote, citing a weak response from the United States and European leaders.
The crackdown on Imamoglu dealt a serious blow to the Turkish economy, with the government reportedly spending nearly $20 billion defending the lira.
So far, Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appear to be in control of the situation. However, the situation could deteriorate further due to the lack of any meaningful economic reforms.
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simple complete dictatorship . mossad hacking all turkish communications devices to enable control . the international press spin will be a spectacle . just like in your country ! .
i hope they oust erdogan that cockroach has ruined the lives of too many people he deserves to be punished. the turkish are better off under a more moderate leadership then under this pro israeli pig erdogan. he has done everything to aid israel in its war against the palestinians this cockroach is responsibke for the geno in gaza the cleansing of artsakh the ousting of a ssad and the geno against christians and alawites and kurds.
lol they are chasing pikachu? wtf is going on there.
“ash” 😂😆😂 is that your pikachu?
lick puk tebe slurp jenke
ask your mom how she’s liking my d”””k she’s 1 naughty bitch.
where you learn such foul language… western hollywood movies.
atilla confuse senile transgender with mom
turkey has a problem of militarism: it should let kurdistan leave and stop meddling in the issues of greece, syria, libya, etc. also return to secularism.
but one small ethnic group should continue to interfere in the world politics of every country on earth though huh
the turds will never be more than whores and proxies for foreign enemies.
they will protest till the last pipeline is cut…
does this imamoglu guy want to stop selling oil to israel?
stop beeing a nato member, stop giving israël turkish airspace for idf training….. lot of things to stop.
guess hard times are getting in the middle east, thanks to israel, now turkey is getting ready to take at least half of syria terrytory under their control, also erdogan is removing all dissidents and internal divisions. turkey under one head is stronger than a divided turkey. hard times are coming to middle east. always look at turkey because it’s a regional power and even russia understood before letting to collapse syrian goverment. even russia understood to not to mess around with turkey.
since our laws are unjust no need to arrest lawyer in our sleazy dystopia
“my lawyer mehmet pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,”
the obvious next question is when will pehlivan’s lawyer be arrested?
as in romania…. one more nato member falling in tyranny.
i hope that the turks revolt and overthrow ergodan. its time to get rid of that dictator and have a more moderate leadership to lead turkey towards a brighter future. erdogan made alot of enemies with his agressive foreign policy. its time he pays the price of his aggressive retroric and c rimes against syria and armenia