Erdogan arrests the candidate who could beat him

Turkey’s president fears to run against Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor

“Hundreds of police officers are in front of our doors,” Ekrem Imamoglu said in a video message to his supporters on March 19th, speaking into his smartphone. “We are up against tyranny, but I will not be discouraged.” The mayor of Istanbul, and the Turkish opposition’s expected candidate in the next presidential elections, was about to leave his apartment. Moments later he was arrested. His party is calling it an attempted putsch by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Erdogan arrests his greatest rival”

From the March 22nd 2025 edition

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