Following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and several prominent members of the IBB team, protests continue to erupt across the country. Among those arrested are İmamoğlu’s advisor, Murat Ongun; Istanbul Planning Agency President Buğra Gökçe; IBB Kültür A.Ş. General Manager Murat Abbas; and Beylikdüzü Mayor Murat Çalık. In the “urban reconciliation” investigation launched after the March 31 elections, Mahir Polat, Deputy Secretary General of IBB Heritage, Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, President of the Reform Institute, and Resul Emrah Şahan, Mayor of Şişli Municipality, were arrested as well.
What happened earlier
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested on Wednesday morning, March 19 , just hours after his university degree was revoked and two days before the Republican People’s Party (CHP) was set to officially nominate him as its candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming presidential election.
İmamoğlu was among 106 individuals detained as part of an ongoing investigation by Turkish authorities into alleged corruption, including irregularities in public tenders, bid rigging, fraud, and bribery.
Prosecutors have accused İmamoğlu of “leading a criminal organization,” while the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that it had obtained “footage of money being counted inside the CHP.”
His arrest comes at a critical political moment, raising concerns about the implications for Turkey’s political landscape ahead of the elections.
Ekrem İmamoğlu’s Detention and Aftermath
As social reactions grew following the detention and arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a series of statements emerged from the world of art and literature. Artists, as the conscience of society, raised their voices for democracy and justice, stressing that silence and cowardice would imply complicity in crime.
In their declarations, the artists, which include many actors, directors, writers, musicians, and academics, state that the democratic will of the people is being disregarded:
“The detention of our elected mayor is a clear interference with the will of the people.”
In the statement published by the artists, both the intervention against İmamoğlu and the police violence against citizens who voiced their concerns on the streets were openly condemned:
“These attacks on the people’s right to vote and be elected, on their freedom to protest, and on their right to express themselves are against the very essence of a democratic society as a whole.”
Writers: We are also on the streets
After the artists, the writers made a declaration. In the statement presented to the public with the title “We are also on the streets!”, more than 200 literary figures announced that they would not remain silent against what was happening. In a press statement in front of Orhan Kemal’s museum, the writers declared that they would not allow Turkey to be dragged into darkness and would fight against injustice with the power of the word and the pen.
“The government has struck a blow to the will of Istanbul and Turkey’s future elections with the judiciary under its control.”
Emphasizing that the objection of the youth and the people rising from the streets is legitimate, the following sentence drew attention to the declaration:
“The voice rising from the streets today is a legitimate objection of our people and youth against the ongoing injustices and systematic lawlessness.”
Writers Abidin Parıltı, Abdullah Aren Çelik, Abdullah Ataşçı, Adil Öztürk, Afşin Kum, Ahmet Ergenç, Ahmet Erkam Saraç, Ahmet Telli, Akif Kurtuluş, Algan Sezgintüredi, Alican Saygı Ortanca, Alper Canıgüz, Altay Öktem, Anıl Mert Özsoy, Arda Özgüven, Arlin Çiçekçi, Arzu Erkan, Aslı Ilgın Kopuz, Aslıhan Kocabal, Asuman Susam, Aybike Ertürk, Ayça Erkol, Ayfer Tunç, Ayhan Bozkurt, Aylin Balboa, Ayşe Nilay Özkan, Ayşe Sarısayın, Ayşegül Devecioğlu, Aysun Kara, Azime Güç, Banu Akeloğlu, Baran Güzel, Barış Acar, Barış İnce, Başar Başarır, Başar Yılmaz, Bedia Ceylan Güzelce, Belgin Bıyıkoğlu, Belma Fırat, Bengisu Günaydın, Berna Kabacaoğlu, Bihter Saatçi, Birgül Al, Birgül Oğuz, Birhan Keskin, Birol Tezcan, Buket Arbatlı, Bülent Ayyıldız, Burak Bayülgen, Burak Katipoğlu, Burcu B. Bilgin, Can Kantarcı, Caner Almaz, Cenk Şahin, Çiğdem Koç, Damla Adam, Defne Suman, Deniz Durukan, Deniz Yüce Başarır, Dilek Yılmaz, Dilruba Nuray Erenler, Doğu Yücel, Doruk Ateş, Duygu Terim, Egemen Görçek, Emek Erez, Emel Aslan, Emirhan Burak Aydın, Emrah Poyraz, Ercan Mehmet Erdem, Erdem Özgül, Erendiz Atasü, Ertan Meyan, Ertuğ Uçar, Ezgi Polat, Ezgi Tanergeç, Fatih Gezer, Fatma Nur Kaptanoğlu, Feride Çiçekoğlu, Feryal Tilmaç, Figen Alkaç, Figen Şakacı, Fuat Sevimay, Gamze Yayık, Gaye Boralıoğlu, Gizem Çetin, Gökcan Şahin, Gonca Özmen, Gülayşe Koçak, Gündüz Vassaf, Gürsel Korat, Hacer Ansel, Hakan Bıçakçı, Hakan Kökcü, Halis Koç, Hande Ortaç, Hanife Demir, Harun Özen, Haydar Ergülen, Hikmet Hükümenoğlu, Hüseyin Bul, Hüseyin Mert Erverdi, Işıl Madak Kaya, İlhami Algör, İnci Aral, İsmail Güzelsoy, Jülide Kayaş, Kadir Yiğit Us, Kayra Keri Küpçü, Kemal Sinan Özmen, Kerem Işık, Kevser Ruhi, Kutluhan Kutlu, Lalehan Bosnalı, Leyla Ezgi Dinç, Mahir Ünsal Eriş, Mehmet Bilal Dede, Mehmet Kaan Alparslan, Mehmet Said Aydın, Mehmet Zaman Saçlıoğlu, Mehtap Sezer, Melih Günaydın, Melike İlgün, Melikşah Altuntaş, Melodi Baç, Menekşe Toprak, Mevsim Yenice, Mihrap Aydın, Mine Soysal, Müge İplikçi, Muhammed Selman Anasal, Muhammet Yıldırım, Mükerrem Yılmaz, Murat Gülsoy, Murat Özyaşar, Murat Uyurkulak, Murathan Mungan, Müren Beykan, Mustafa Çevikdoğan, Nermin Yıldırım, Nurhan Suerdem, Onat Bahadır, Orhan Alkaya, Orhan Murat Bahtiyar, Oya Baydar, Oylum Yılmaz Eriş, Ozan Ertürk, Ozan Yüksel, Ozancan Demirışık, Ömer Çeşit, Ömer Faruk, Özen Yula, Özge Doğar, Özlem Akıncı, Özlem Ertan, Pelin Özer, Polat Özlüoğlu, Reha Avkıran, Rıdvan Hatun, Sabri Saydam, Sanem Kayhan Gonzalez, Selçuk Çelik, Selim Erdoğan, Sema Kaygusuz, Semih Gümüş, Semrin Şahin, Sepin Sinanlıoğlu, Seray Şahiner, Sevengül Sönmez, Sevim Erdoğan, Sezer Ateş Ayvaz, Sibel Köklü, Sibel Oral, Sine Ergün, Su Tunç, Süreyyya Evren, Şebnem İşigüzel, Şükrü Erbaş, Taçlı Yazıcıoğlu, Uğur Arık, Ulaş Özkan, Yasemin Özek, Yasemin Yazıcı, Yavuz Ekinci, Yekta Kopan, Yiğit Bener, Yiğit Değer Bengi, Yurdagül Şahin, Zeynep Çolakoğlu, Zeynep Kaçar, Zülfü Livaneli, made a press statement in front of the Orhan Kemal Museum.
