The mayor of Constantinople, Ekrem Imamoglou, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday, along with his 100 other associates.

According to first reports, Imamoglou was arrested in a police operation with the participation of 3,000 police officers.

In a message via the X platform, the Mayor of Constantinople, shortly before his arrest and while dressing up to surrender to police officers, says:

“I say it with great regret that a handful of people are trying to trample on popular will, in this malice they also involve my beloved police officers and security forces. They have gathered in front of my residence, outside the residence of 16 million inhabitants of Constantinople. Hundreds of police officers. We are facing a great tyranny. Know that I will not succumb. I love you all. I deliver myself to my people. My people know that I will stand up. I will continue to fight with that person and those who use these forces with them as if they were their own tools. “

In the early hours of the morning, Mr Imoglou’s adviser on media issues, Murat Ongun also made known through X that he was detained without explaining the reasons.

Dozens of police officers with riots were located around the home of the mayor, leading form of the opposition, confirmed footage that was transmitted by CNN Türk. According to the same source, police officers investigated Mr Imamoglou’s residence and he was subsequently detained.

At the expense of the elected, black sheep of the Presidency, heavy charges are expected to be filed, always according to CNN Türk: he is confronted to be the head of a criminal organization, involved in bribery, set up bids and providing support for a “terrorist” organization.

The mayor’s party – the Republican People’s Party of the Opposition – will hold a qualifying election on Sunday where Imamoglu was expected to be selected as a candidate in the future presidential elections. Turkey’s next presidential election are scheduled for 2028, but they are likely to eventually hold early elections.

Authorities have ended several roads around Constantinople and banned the city’s demonstrations for four days in an obvious attempt to prevent reactions after arrest.

It is recalled that yesterday, the University of Constantinople canceled a degree received by the mayor of Constantinople, which excludes him from the race to claim the Turkish Presidency, as a higher education degree is a prerequisite for the highest.

Imamoglu is the strongest candidate, against current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the part of the opposition.

The Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Constantinople is accused of “forgery of official documents” on the basis of a report compiled by the Turkish Higher Education Council (YK), according to which his transfer in 1990 to the School of Business Administration of the University of Constantinople was not the University of Constantinople. At that time by the Turkish authorities.

Together with Imamoglou, the qualifications of another 28 people falling into the same category were canceled.

Imamoglou’s lawyers, however, insist that this decision of the University Senate is invalid, as the administration of the School of Business Administration, from which the Mayor of Constantinople graduated, is responsible for making such a decision.

Turkey has limited access to certain social networking platforms

Turkey has restricted access to many social media platforms on Wednesday, including X, Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok, following the arrest of Imamoglou and others, the Netblocks Internet Observatory said, according to Reuters.