The detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and dozens of others, marks yet another blatant assault on democracy in Türkiye. Following the recent arrests of opposition Mayors, this latest crackdown underscores the alarming erosion of democracy and the rule of law under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.

S&Ds call on the Turkish authorities to immediately release all those unduly detained for exercising their rights as opposition members, journalists and activists. They condemn that Türkiye is increasingly drifting away from democratic principles, and warn of the consequences of this authoritarian drift for the currently frozen EU accession process. They stand in full solidarity with Mayor İmamoğlu, the people of Istanbul, and their sister party Republican People’s Party (CHP) in their fight for democracy.

Nacho Sánchez Amor, S&D spokesperson in the European Parliament’s committee on foreign affairs, said:

“We are deeply concerned by the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul, yet another alarming example of the authoritarian overreach of the current Turkish authorities. Just days before İmamoğlu was expected to be nominated as the main opposition candidate for the presidency, a full-scale campaign has been launched against him on multiple fronts. Beyond the already existing cases, yesterday saw the annulment of his university diploma—a requirement to become President of the Republic—and today he has been detained along with over 100 others on alleged charges of corruption and terrorism. This was followed by a four-day ban on demonstrations and a slowdown of social media. The timing and nature of these actions make it unmistakably clear that this is a politically motivated move aimed at preventing a legitimate challenger from contesting the upcoming elections. We call for the immediate release of all those unduly detained.

“All this is happening in an increasingly repressive environment designed to suppress opposition and silence critical voices in Türkiye through a complex web of repressive laws and the political instrumentalisation of the judiciary. Despite some recent positive steps in other areas, it is evident that President Erdoğan’s government remains fully committed to an authoritarian model at the expense of the rule of law and basic freedoms, brazenly using state institutions to further its own political agenda.

“This is why the EU accession process remains at a standstill and will continue to do so indefinitely, no matter how geopolitically important Türkiye claims to be. None of the EU institutions should turn a blind eye to the alarming deterioration of democracy in Türkiye.”