Nearly 50 held in Turkey in probe into Istanbul mayor’s graft case

ISTANBUL: Istanbul prosecutors on Saturday said nearly 50 people had been arrested in a probe into the graft case of Istanbul´s opposition mayor, whose jailing last month sparked nationwide protests.

When Ekrem Imamoglu from the main opposition CHP was arrested on March 19, huge crowds began rallying in protest outside Istanbul City Hall every night with the demonstrations quickly spreading across the country in Turkey´s biggest wave of unrest since 2013.

Istanbul´s general prosecutor said “47 people have been arrested”. According to local reports, those detained included Imamoglu´s aide and brother-in-law Kadriye Kasapoglu and city hall officials.

The Bir Gun news site, which is close to the opposition, said raids were underway in the homes of those detained in Ankara, Istanbul and Tekirdag in the country´s north-west.

Ozgur Celik, the provincial head of CHP in Istanbul, said the arrests were linked to the municipality´s opposition to a divisive canal project aimed at connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

The project was initiated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2011 when he was prime minister to relieve congestion in the Bosphorus Strait, a 50-kilometre-long (31 miles), 150-metre-wide and 25-metre deep stretch.

It has been vehemently opposed by environmentalists because it would encroach on natural and agricultural land and alter a reservoir that partially supplies Istanbul with water.

“Today´s operation is no coincidence,” Celik said on X, explaining that Istanbul´s Water and Sewage Authority had ordered the demolition and shutdown of construction sites along the canal route.

“The municipal employees who opposed (the project) are currently at the main police station,” he said.

The deputy chairman of the CHP parliamentary group, Gokhan Gunaydin, said “the real reason for these arrests is the Istanbul Canal”.

Turkish authorities have launched a social housing project and recently put land adjacent to the route of the future canal up for sale.