Turkish prosecutors investigate main opposition leader in crackdown
FILE PHOTO: A person holds a placard during a rally to protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 29, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
ISTANBUL - Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the head of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on charges of threatening and insulting Istanbul's chief prosecutor, adding to a broad crackdown on the opposition.
The clampdown is centred on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival and leads him in some polls. The CHP's Imamoglu was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.
The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that it launched the probe into CHP leader Ozgur Ozel over comments he made about the chief prosecutor at a rally in Istanbul on Wednesday, criticising the targeting of the opposition.
CHP spokesman Deniz Yucel criticised the decision to open the investigation.
"We will not succumb to this system of lawlessness that you have created," he said on X.
Imamoglu's arrest in March triggered mass protests, economic turmoil and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government denies the accusations and says the judiciary is independent.
Since his arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities. Access to Imamoglu's X account was also blocked in Turkey this month. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
24 minutes ago
- Straits Times
South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift trade deal, Lee's office says
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for the new U.S. ambassador to China, former U.S. Senator David Perdue, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a ceremony to mark the 70th Memorial Day at the Seoul National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, 06 June 2025. JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo SEOUL - U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung agreed to work toward a swift trade deal in their first phone call since Lee was elected, Lee's office said on Friday. "The two presidents resolved to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible, that both countries can be satisfied with. To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results," Lee's office said in a statement. Trump spoke with Lee, invited Lee to a summit in the U.S., and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official. The two leaders also swapped stories from the campaign trail, including sharing stories of assassination attempts and political difficulties, and agreed that strong leadership will emerge as they overcome difficulties, Lee's office said. Lee survived a knife attack and underwent surgery when he was stabbed in the neck by a man during an event last year. Trump and Lee also talked of their golf skills and agreed to play golf when possible, Lee's office said, while Lee mentioned that he was gifted a hat with Trump's signature on it. Lee was elected on June 3 after the U.S. ally's former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted. Lee's term began on Wednesday. The future of South Korea's export-oriented economy will hinge on what kind of deal he can strike, with all of his country's key sectors from chips to autos and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. He said on the eve of the elections that "the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
41 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it is leaving Mali after 'mission accomplished'
Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it is leaving Mali after 'mission accomplished' MOSCOW/DAKAR - Russia's Wagner mercenary group said on Friday it was leaving Mali after fighting Islamist militants for three-and-a-half years and returning home after its mission in the African country had been successfully completed. Wagner said via its channel in Telegram that it had brought all of the country's regional centres back under the control of the Malian military junta, pushing out Islamist forces and killing their commanders. Wagner did not say what its fighters would do once they were back in Russia. The announcement follows a spate of attacks in recent weeks that insurgents say killed more than 100 Malian soldiers as well as some mercenaries. Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region, claimed responsibility for the violence in recent days, including a bombing attack on Wednesday against Malian and Russian soldiers near Bamako. Wagner has been in Mali since the army, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French and U.N. troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade and replaced them with Russian mercenaries. Wagner's withdrawal from Mali does not mean that the West African country will be without Russian fighters though. The Africa Corps is still in Mali. The Corps was created with the support of the Russian Defence Ministry after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and then left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. Russia has been seeking to end Wagner's deployment to Mali to replace them with the Africa Corps, Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation told Reuters. "The takeover of the Africa Corps means that the Russian military engagement in Mali will continue, but the focus might change more to training and providing equipment and less actual fighting jihadists," Laessing said. The Africa Corps is "about 70-80%" made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters. The Malian defence ministry did not immediately respond to request for a comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
42 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Poland postpones acquisition of 32 Black Hawk helicopters
WARSAW - Poland has postponed the purchase of 32 more U.S. Lockheed Martin S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for its army, the Polish Ministry of Defence said on Friday, referring to a shift in priorities. Poland launched negotiations for the acquisition of the helicopters produced by Lockheed Martin's Polish arm PZL Mielec, in 2023 under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government. "We have decided to change the priorities of the helicopter programs... to better adapt to the challenges of future warfare," armed forces chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference. The Polish military aims to prioritise the acquisition of training and combat helicopters, a versatile naval carrier helicopter, and a heavy transport helicopter, Kukula said. Earlier Polish media reported the acquisition process for the Black Hawks was cancelled. Lockheed Martin said in an email on Friday, that it looks forward to continuing its long-standing partnership with Poland where 1,700 PZL Mielec employees are involved in the manufacture of F-16 fighters and Black Hawks. Grzegorz Polak, a spokesman for Poland's Armament Agency which buys equipment for the army, told Reuters on Friday that "some correction" was needed regarding priorities in light of the geopolitical situation and state security interests. "Maybe it is necessary to acquire other equipment in its (helicopters') place such as drones, or tanks, or some kind of communication," he said, adding it was not the agency that set procurement priorities. PiS lawmaker Mariusz Blaszczak, who was defence minister in the previous government, labelled the decision to suspend the purchase of the Black Hawks a "disgrace" in a post on X, saying it would slow down the replacement of the helicopter fleet. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
