Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak
JISS, Mar. 30, 2025
“… when İmamoğlu unequivocally condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, explicitly characterizing the group as a terrorist organization.”
The pre-dawn arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu—President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most formidable political rival—cemented March 19 as a pivotal and unforgettable day in Turkish political history, when the Istanbul Mayor was taken from his home and imprisoned as if he were a common criminal.
İmamoğlu faces a series of grave charges, including leading and being a member of a criminal organization, embezzlement, bribery, aggravated fraud, unlawful acquisition of personal data, and rigging public tenders—along with accusations of aiding the Kurdish PKK.[1]
As if that were not enough, on the night before his arrest, Istanbul University arbitrarily revoked his university diploma, an essential requirement for eligibility to run for the presidency—despite having no legal authority to do so.[2]
Taken together, these developments show that the mayor is the victim of an orchestrated political takedown.
This dynamic also extends to Erdoğan’s position in Syria. Following the agreement signed between the new Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Erdoğan feels significantly more confident about the Syrian arena and seeks to deepen his country’s influence in the region by establishing new military bases in Syria….SOURCE