1 of 2 | Turkey has arrested the lawyer for jailed political opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in what Imamoglu Thursday called a legal coup against democracy. File photo by Sedat Suna/EPA-EFE
March 28 (UPI) — Turkey arrested the lawyer for jailed political opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in what Imamoglu Thursday called a legal coup against democracy. “My lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” a post on Imamoglu’s X account said. “As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves.”
The post said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s government wants “to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy.”
“The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing. Release my lawyer immediately,” Imamoglu’s post added.
Politico, citing Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, said Pehlivan was taken to a police station but no criminal charges were immediately announced.
Imamoglu is Erdogan’s main political rival. He was arrested March 19 and charged March 23 with corruption charges.
Imamoglu denies the charges and the arrest triggered huge protests nationwide in Turkey.
BBC reporter Mark Lowen was grabbed by Istanbul police while covering the protests Wednesday, held for 17 hours and then deported.
In an X post Lowen said he was told he was “a threat to public order.”
BBC News CEO said in a statement, “This is an extremely troubling incident and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities.”
Hundreds of protesters who believe Imamoglu because he is a political threat to Erdogan have been arrested while demanding that Imamoglu be released.
Turkey denies the arrest is political.
Imamoglu and protesters supporting him believe his arrest is anti-democratic political repression, essentially a coup against democracy.
The Guardian reported that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said “Turkey must protect democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”