DETENTION OF ERDOGAN’S RIVAL WILL POISON TURKEY-EU RELATIONS – Ekrem Imamoglu, detained on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group
Relations between Turkey and the European Union will be ‘”very poisoned” by the detention of President Erdogan’s main political rival, Senior Consulting Fellow at Chatham House, Galip Dalay, told Reuters on Wednesday (March 19).
Turkey detained Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group in what the main opposition party on Wednesday called “a coup against our next president.”
The move against the popular two-term mayor caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures across the country which has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects and silence dissent.
Imamoglu, 54, who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, was to be named his Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) official presidential candidate within days. He now faces two separate investigations that also include charges of leading a crime organisation, bribery and tender rigging.
