The supporters of the mayor of Istanbul challenge the ban, all in the square

A coup. From prison where he has been locked up since yesterday, the mayor of Istanbul Ecrem immamogl He called the Turks and the same judiciary to defend democracy from the coup. An appeal launched while his supporters challenged the proofs of the Prefecture for the second consecutive day and had gathered before the town hall to protest, before being dispersed forcefully by the police.

“The coup of March 19 was implemented against the will of the nation that wanted to independently determine its destiny”, wrote Imamoglu on X. “Defend democracy and your will,” he urged. But after more than 24 hours of silence, the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan He rejected the accusations to the sender. “They are internal bets in the opposition” and in particular to the Republican Party, cut short, explaining that the complaints started from CHP members. “These unacceptable threats to the judges are the easiest escape route to deceive the country,” he warned.

The appeal to the judiciary and the accusations against the mayor

In the morning, through his lawyers, always on X Imamoglu he had turned directly to the judiciary. “I appeal to those who represent the judicial power: you have to act and fight your colleagues who are staining the judiciary of infamy. You cannot and you don’t have to keep silent anymore”, has warned. The mayor must respond to accusations of corruption, embezzlement, but also ties, all to try, with the Kurdish separatists of the PKK.

Accusations concentrated in two different strands of investigation. The first vein brought to the arrest of the mayor and another 82 suspects, While ten are still sought by the police and seven of these have fled abroad. In the second survey, relating to support for PKK, IMAMOGLU is involved together with six others suspected; Four of these are found in handcuffs, three on the run. Meanwhile, the country is increasingly split between those who have branded the strands of investigation as politicians and those who preach respect for the judiciary. Today The fight in Parliament has been touched Between parliamentarians of the CHP and those of thekp.

And the police intervened tonight in Istanbul to disperse a protest procession that was heading from the town hall to Piazza Taksim, challenging the ban on the prefecture. Before Erdogan spoke, the Akp party spokesman, Omer Celik, had already spokesman, declaring the government’s total extraneousness to the procedure and asking for respect for the judiciary. The mayor torn Istanbul from the Akp of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2019 and is unanimously considered the most insidious challenger for the president when, In 2028, we will return to vote.

On paper, next Sunday the primaries of his party, the CHP, had to be held, from which he should have emerged as the challenger of Erdogan. Yesterday the consultation was confirmed, but in fact it is still not certain that it will be ahead as scheduled. Meanwhile, IMamoglu has appointed the temporary regent of the Metropolis of the Metropolis on the Bosphorus to Prosecutor Parliamento Nuri Aslan Aslan Aslan. A move also dictated by the fact that The investigation promises to be complex And that nobody would bet on an imminent return to work for the mayor. On the basis of what has been announced, 200 suspicious contracts ended up in the sights of the judiciary.

The details of the investigations and the accusations of corruption

To worsen the picture, the diffusion, in the Hurriyet newspaper and numerous Turkish media, of images of the searches carried out in the houses of the suspects. According to what emerged, Ali Nuhoglu, building entrepreneur near Imamoglu, was found in possession of cash for 40 million Turkish lire (one million euros).

A considerable amount of cash was also found in the houses of Murat Onguncouncilor of Imamoglu and of Evha Bagdatlyll, Benefire near Ngun who has fled Greece by land. The Ongun’s heritage was seized yesterday, as well as the construction company of the Imamoglu family (60% of the mayor and 40% of the father).

The latter is a member of the Masak, a company that in the last 3 years would have acquired 117 properties, Now ended up under the enlargement lens of the investigators. Another thorny case concerns an alleged request for bribes for a shopping center, the capacity, built without compliance with the anti -seismic standards. On the basis of what is reported by various media, the president of the Foundation for associations affiliated to the Municipality of Istanbul, Ertan Yildiz (escaped abroad) and a second suspect (under arrest), they would have asked for 5 million euros of bribes to prevent the building from being unusable.

“You should not put yourself against who will become President of the Republic in two years”, would have threatened the defendants according to the complaint received by the judiciary and reported by the Turkish media. After the refusal to pay the bribe, the Municipality imposed a fine of 197 million Turkish lire (almost 5 million euros) to the owners of the shopping center.

Economic tension and consequences

Istanbul was also under siege: armored Taksim square, some metro stops, buses and funicular stops that allow access to the Istanbul center. Like yesterday, social media and WhatsApp worked in half service. This morning the Minister of the Interior announced the arrest of 37 people, accused of having shared provocative content. The arrest of Imamoglu He also caused yet another collapse of the Turkish lira, whose value touched the historical minimum yesterday. To date, 38 lire for a dollar and 41 lire for one euro are needed.