Turkey Detains 109 People From Opposition To Former Guardian Of Koota

UNSPLASH/Imad Alassory ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Turkey has expanded its months-long legal crackdown on opposition that has focused on Istanbul. Turkish authorities detained 109 people, including members of opposition parties and former mayors.

Anadolu news agency reported that Prosecutor Izmir ordered the detention of a total of 157 people in the early hours of the morning as part of an investigation into corruption, tender fraud, and fraud in the western coastal city. Police continue to search for 48 others.

Murat Bakan, an Izmir MP from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said former Mayor Izmir Tunc Soyer had been detained along with senior officials and a provincial party chairman.

"We were built with another dawn operation today. We are facing a similar process to what happened in Istanbul," Batan said in X at the same time calling the justice system "acting based on instructions", as reported by Reuters, Wednesday, July 2.

Those arrested in a broader crackdown in Turkey include Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political competitor.

Imamoglu was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

It sparked the biggest street protests in a decade and sharp sales of Turkish assets.

The CHP denies the accusations leveled at him. Together with several Western countries, the CHP and human rights groups called the crackdown a politicized move to eliminate electoral challenges against Erdogan and silence dissent.

The government denies these claims, saying the Turkish courts and courts are independent.

According to a prosecutor's statement published by Anadolu news, the investigation into the municipality of Izmir found that irregularities in tenders and expenses involving subcontractor companies had caused public losses.