Turkey’s interior ministry said on Sunday it had suspended Ekrem Imamoglu as mayor of Istanbul after a court formally arrested him as part of a corruption investigation.
“Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality… has been suspended from his post,” the ministry said in a statement, according to France24.
The Istanbul municipal council, where the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has a majority, is expected to elect an acting mayor in the coming days after Imamoglu’s dismissal. Two other district governors have also been dismissed, the ministry said.
Shortly before the suspension, Imamoglu said the legal moves against him amounted to a “summary execution” of his political career.
“Turkey woke up today to a great betrayal. The trial that is being carried out is not a trial, it is an execution without a trial,” he wrote on X in a message sent through his lawyers.
The dismissal came hours after a court ordered Imamoglu to remain in custody pending the outcome of his trial on corruption charges.
A key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Imamoglu was detained after his residence was raided earlier this week, sparking the biggest wave of street protests in Turkey in more than a decade.
