In Türkiye, Erdogan's critics see Istanbul's mayor erode democracy after being detained

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has entered a series of political issues this year, with little precedent in his two decades in the Turkish Power Summit.

Voters are angry at the ongoing high inflation. The popularity of his party has sunk. His opponents formed an alliance around Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who made it clear that he was serving as the president.

Then on Wednesday, four days after the mayor was designated as a candidate for the political opposition president, dozens of police officers arrested him at his home for allegations of corruption and terrorism.

Mr. Erdogan's enemies believed that the arrest was a strategy of miscarriage of Mr. Imaglu before it began. Analysts, opposition leaders and foreign officials say it is not only Turkey's next president, but to what extent Turkey is one of the world's 20 largest economies and a U.S. ally of NATO, and remains a democracy.

“Türkiye has never been a perfect democracy, but arresting a presidential candidate takes such imperfection to another level,” said Arife Kose, a doctoral candidate who studies Turkish politics at the University of East Anglia in the UK. She said using the state’s power to cancel collateral competitive elections, “This means it’s getting closer to a completely authoritarian country.”

Mr. Erdogan has served as Prime Minister since 2014 since 2003. During this period, he served as prime minister. During that time, he oversaw huge economic growth and repeatedly led his ruling justice and development party to win in the polls.

But over the past decade, his critics say he has eroded Turkish democracy, stored his control by stolen the state bureaucracy with loyalists, consolidated his control, stocked up with loyalists to limit negative coverage, and cultivated state prosecutors and judges to punish his enemies legally.

Still, most experts do not see Türkiye as completely authoritarian, as there are still many civil liberties, opposition campaigns – sometimes winning like municipal competitions across the country last year.

Analysts say the question is whether Türkiye will remain a mixture of democracy and autocracy or will it be a big shift to the latter.

Hasan Sinar, a professor of criminal law at Aldingbas University in Istanbul, said that unless Mr Imamogru is removed from the presidential campaign, it will set Türkiye apart from the alliance of countries such as Russia, Belarus or Azerbaijan.

“They have elections, but they are so-called elections because the president himself is designing the opposition and deciding who will fight him,” he said.

Mr Erdogan accused opposition to attempts to subvert the legal system and criticized Friday for calling for protests against the detention of the mayor.

“We certainly do not allow public order to be damaged,” he said. “Because we have not succumbed to street horror so far, we will not kneel down and destroy.”

Later on Friday, thousands of protesters ignored the government's ban on demonstrations gathered in Türkiye's three largest cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Police faced some protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, and the Ministry of the Interior said 97 people had been arrested.

The protests appear to be Türkiye’s largest demonstration since a development plan against Istanbul in 2013, which grew into a large rally where police were suppressed. Five people were convicted for trying to overthrow the government. Human rights groups call the allegations “basically unfounded.”

Political turmoil occurred as Türkiye found itself capable of benefiting from recent global events. It supports a rebel group leading the new government in Syria. The Trump administration has little interest in whether its foreign partners follow democratic standards. And fears that the United States will stop supporting Ukraine's support in the war with Russia, prompting European leaders to seek stronger defensive ties with Turkey.

Analysts say these interests may hinder foreign criticism of Mr Erdogan's governance. U.S. officials have little to say about Mr. Imamogru's arrest, but some European leaders have expressed concern.

German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday the arrest was a “very, very bad signal” of Türkiye's relations with the EU.

Erdogan's current second presidency will end in 2028. The Constitution only allows two terms, but if parliament is called early elections, he can run legally again, which is widely expected. This may have led Mr Erdogan, 71, to vote on Mr Imamogru, 54.

The government recently took a series of actions against perceived critics following the mayor’s arrest.

Since January, a prominent journalist and an agent representing a prominent actor have been arrested for the 2013 protests.

Last month, two senior officials from the prestigious business association criticized the government's economic plans, prosecuted famous figures and insufficient compliance with the rule of law. State prosecutors are charged with a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for spreading false information and advice.

Since October, authorities have evacuated three mayors of Istanbul area suspected of corruption and terrorism. A person appointed by the government.

The less prominent figures also fell into the government. A astrologer was detained last month and was accused of insulting Mr. Erdogan and another senior politician. The Ministry of Trade asked a food video museum and he actively reviewed a restaurant subsidized by Mr. Imamoglu to see if he had been paid.

Mr. Imamoglu became mayor in a 2019 crushing defeat. The government was abandoned with alleged violations, but Mr. Imamogru won again with greater profits. Last year, he was re-elected, defeating the candidate supported by Mr. Erdogan.

His aides said that during his tenure as mayor, the government conducted 42 administrative and 51 judicial investigations on Mr. Imamogru. In one case, he was accused of corruption in his work as mayor of the previous district. He was convicted in another insulting public official, saying the judge overturned the “fool” he had won in 2019. He appealed the judgment.

The arrest this week comes after his alma mater, the University of Istanbul, announced that the university had transferred improper procedures from Türkiye-controlled North Cynprus with improper procedures.

Berk Esen, associate professor of political science at Sabanci University in Istanbul, said that despite these obstacles, Mr Imamoglu's popularity remains high, which puts him at a threat to Mr Erdogan.

“He made it clear to Erdogan that the train was moving, it was moving in his direction, and he would not be able to stop it in the normal way,” Mr. Sen said. As a result, Mr. Erdogan “goed his neck.”

Prosecutors accused Mr Imamoglu of leading the criminal organization and overseeing bribery, bidding and other crimes at the City Hall. He was accused of supporting terrorism in his second investigation through political coordination with a pro-Kurdian group.

Türkiye's opposition vowed to continue to the primary on Sunday to name his presidential candidate and called for protests against his detention.

The government has banned public demonstrations in major cities, closed major streets and subway stations, and limited access to social media platforms. It calls on people to believe in legal proceedings and insists that the courts are independent.

“Trying to connect judicial investigations and cases to our president, to say the least,” Attorney General Yilmaz Tunc told reporters on Wednesday.

“The judiciary does not accept orders from anyone,” he said.