The arrested mayor of Istanbul was temporarily suspended from office

The arrested mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been temporarily suspended from his duties. This is stated in the press release of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, published on March 23 on the department's Facebook page (ex.Twitter).

"Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on charges of illegally obtaining personal data, accepting bribes, and violations during tenders. In accordance with Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of the Law on Municipalities, he was temporarily suspended from his duties by the Ministry of Internal Affairs," the document says.

In addition, the head of the Istanbul municipality of Beylikduzu, Mehmet Murat Chalik, and the head of the Shisli district, Emrah Shahan, who were also arrested in the case against Imamoglu, were temporarily suspended.

According to the Turkish newspaper T24, Imamoglu was taken to a prison in the city of Silivri after the trial as part of an investigation into fraud and corruption. It is specified that the former mayor was taken to the Caglayan courthouse on the evening of March 22, and at noon on March 23, the court ordered the arrest.

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Earlier in the day, it was reported that due to the leak of data on the decision on Imamoglu, a decision was made to arrest him for financial crimes and reject the application for arrest for charges related to terrorism.

Law enforcement agencies issued a warrant for Imamoglu's detention on March 19. According to media reports, an anti-corruption operation has been launched against the Istanbul administration. 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.

Later, mass protests began in Turkey in connection with the mayor's detention. The day before, it was reported that police in Istanbul used tear gas against protesters. On March 20, the Turkish Interior Minister announced that six policemen had been injured during a protest in Istanbul. Rallies were also held in Ankara.