Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor has filed a vast indictment against 402 people, including former mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, for alleged crimes including bribery and extortion as part of a major investigation into the leadership of Turkey's largest city.
The actions of an alleged criminal group “spread through our city like the tentacles of an octopus” during Mr Imamoglu’s tenure, according to the 3,700-page indictment seen by The National.
For Mr Imamoglu, who is widely seen as the greatest political rival to long-standing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prosecutor is seeking charges of establishing and leading a criminal organisation, bribery, money laundering and defrauding public institutions.
The total loss of public funds resulting from the alleged criminal actions is estimated at 160 billion Turkish liras ($3.8 billion), plus another $24 million in foreign currency, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported, citing the indictment.
Ninety-nine other people accused, including former senior members of Mr Imamoglu’s team at the Istanbul municipality, were members of the alleged criminal organisation, the prosecutor said. Others were not members but were “in a position to commit related crimes”, it is claimed.
Mr Imamoglu, who denies all charges against him, was arrested at his home in March over corruption allegations and has been remanded in custody ever since. Around 100 of the other suspects have also been detained awaiting trial, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said. Others remain under judicial controls or have arrest warrants out against them.
The arrest of the former mayor, from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), prompted Turkey’s largest protests in over a decade as demonstrators rallied against the accusations. They claimed the government was attempting to stifle Mr Erdogan's political competition – an allegation that his team denied.
The value of the Turkish lira, already devalued in Turkey’s struggling economy, plummeted following Mr Imamoglu’s arrest as investors were scared off by the destabilising effects of the political crisis. That forced the central bank to spend to billions of dollars to prop up the lira.
Mr Imamoglu was re-elected to lead Istanbul, a city of 16 million residents, for a second term in 2024. He was due to be selected by CHP members as their preferred candidate for future presidential elections just days after his arrest in March.
Since then, several CHP district mayors in Istanbul and other major Turkish cities have been removed from their posts over similar corruption allegations.
Critics have warned that an increasingly politicised judiciary in Turkey could be a factor that prevents the country achieving long-held strategic aims, such as European Union membership.
Earlier this month, the European Commission said arrests of opposition politicians “raise serious concerns about Turkey's adherence to democratic values”. A report on EU candidate countries said “the deterioration of democratic standards, judicial independence, and fundamental rights has yet to be addressed”.
Turkish government officials have denied that the arrest of Mr Imamoglu and his associates is politically motivated.
