Turkish police detain Ekrem Imamoglu's lawyer as state crackdown expands

 Turkish authorities have detained and deported foreign journalists as part of a crackdown on protests in support of the Istanbul mayor

News Desk - the Cradle

Turkish authorities have detained the lawyer defending jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rival.

Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was jailed on Sunday on corruption charges. His detention the week before sparked mass anti-government protests, the largest in Turkiye in a decade.

CHP MP Turan Taskin Ozer posted on X that Mehmet Pehlivan, Imamoglu's lawyer, was detained on Friday “for fabricated reasons. ”

Imamoglu, who was nominated by the CHP as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election on the day he was formally arrested, demanded the immediate release of his lawyer.

"As if the coup on democracy wasn't enough, they can't stand the victims of this coup defending themselves," Imamoglu said on X.

In response to the mass protests against Imamoglu's arrest, Turkish authorities have detained over 1,000 people, including at least 10 journalists.

Joakim Medin, a journalist for Swedish news service Dagens ETC, was detained in Turkiye on Friday.

"I demand that the Swedish government act directly and sharply" to secure the release of Medin, said his editor at ETC, Andreas Gustavsson.

Medin's detention comes one day after Turkish authorities deported a BBC journalist and detained an AFP photographer covering the protests.

The BBC said Mark Lowen was detained at his Istanbul hotel on Wednesday and held for 17 hours for being a "threat to public order" before being put on a flight to London. He had been in Turkiye for several days.

CHP supporters accuse Erdogan of orchestrating Imamoglu's arrest to remove him as a challenger in Turkiye's next presidential election.

Analysts speculate that Erdogan may call for an earlier election to allow himself to run for president again.

Because Erdogan has led Turkiye for 22 years, parliament would need to approve an earlier election as he will have reached his term limit by the scheduled date.

Authorities say Imamoglu is implicated in two separate investigations – one involving alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and another concerning bribery, corruption, and data fraud tied to a public tender scheme.