The arrested mayor of Istanbul was accused of aiding terrorism and fraud.

Istanbul's Main Prosecutor's Office is conducting two investigations in the context of the arrest of the city's opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and warrants have been issued for the detention of 106 suspects. During one of the investigations, prosecutors raised suspicions to these individuals of complicity with a terrorist organization, according to a comment by the country's Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, received by Izvestia on March 19, transmitted by the press department of the Turkish Embassy in Moscow.

"As part of the investigation conducted by the Bureau for the Investigation of Terrorist Crimes, a warrant has been issued for the detention of seven people, including the mayor of Istanbul Municipality [Imamoglu]. It is alleged that the suspects committed a crime of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization," the text says.

The second investigation is being conducted by the Turkish Organized Crime Investigation Bureau. The agency has issued arrest warrants for 100 suspects, including Imamoglu. It is alleged that the suspects are involved in bribery, extortion, collusion in auctions, fraud and illegal "obtaining personal data within a criminal organization in order to make a profit."

The investigation materials are accompanied by reports from MASAK (the Council for the Investigation of Financial Crimes under the Ministry of Finance of the country), tax examinations, deposit reports, witness statements and other evidence.

As the head of the Turkish Ministry of Justice emphasized, the country is a state governed by the rule of law, in which, according to Article 9 of the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law and "no privileges can be granted to anyone or any group." According to Article 157 of the country's Criminal Code, the investigation process is currently confidential.

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Law enforcement agencies had issued a warrant for Imamoglu's detention earlier that day. According to the Sabah newspaper, about 100 arrest warrants were issued in total. The media notes that an anti-corruption operation has been launched against the Istanbul City Hall. It concerns the holding of city tenders, as well as clarifying the details of the interaction of opposition officials with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party. It is also reported that the houses of Imamoglu and his press adviser Murat Ongun are being searched.