(19 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul, Turkey – 19 March 2025
1. Wide of Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman Özgür Özel at news conference
2. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Özgür Özel, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman:
"They can do any evil. We are ready for any evil they can do. Because it is clear that the issue is not a political struggle, but a matter of existence or non-existence for the country."
3. Wide of news conference
4. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Özgür Özel, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman:
"What has been done is a coup. It is a coup attempt."
5. Wide of end of news conference
STORYLINE:
The leader of arrested Istanbul mayor’s party has accused authorities of a “coup attempt” at a news conference on Wednesday in the Turkish capital.
“They can do any evil. We are ready for any evil they can do. Because it is clear that the issue is not a political struggle, but a matter of existence or non-existence for the country," said Özgür Özel, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman.
It comes as Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links.
It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkey.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued warrants for the mayor and some 100 other people.
Among those detained was Imamoglu’s close aide, Murat Ongun and two district mayors.
Authorities also closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest.
Critics say the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan’s ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections.
Government officials insist that the courts operate independently and reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.
AP video by Mehmet Guzel
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