Turkey: Sweeping Arrests, Torture, Censorship
by Uzay Bulut • May 1, 2025 at 5:00 am
On March 19, just days before the March 23 primaries of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- the CHP's leading candidate who was thought by many possibly to win the next presidential election against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- was arrested on contested charges of "corruption and terrorism."
A day earlier, on March 18, Imamoglu's university degree was revoked, "citing 'nullity' and 'clear error' as grounds for cancellation... The decision affects Imamoglu and 27 other individuals whose academic credentials have now been invalidated...."
"All of the detainees, absolutely all of them, were tortured terribly while being detained. They were tortured terribly in the detention vehicle, while being taken to Gayrettepe [police station]. There are young people among them who are in really bad shape. What is terrible is that there is nothing [as evidence against them] in their investigation files, not even a photo against them. ..... [T]hese are revenge trials. The prosecutors who took testimonies of detainees yesterday, today do not talk with the lawyers, in any way... This is not a [proper] judiciary." — Sezgin Tanrıkulu, MP from the CHP opposition party, March 27, 2025.
Meanwhile, Erdogan's regime has arrested many dissident journalists and continues to apply financial and judicial pressure on media outlets that refuse to operate as mouthpieces for the regime.
"There was no chance for a defense.... The decision appears prepared beforehand." — Elif Taşdöğen, attorney, medyanews.net, January 22, 2025.
Meanwhile, the government continues to pardon and release imprisoned Turkish Hizbullah terrorists.
The Erdogan regime's support for Islamic terror groups such as Hamas and ISIS (Islamic State) is also well-documented.....
Meanwhile, do Europeans really want the possibility of up to 87 million more Turkish citizens flooding Europe?
On March 19, just days before the March 23 primaries of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- the CHP's leading candidate who was thought by many possibly to win the next presidential election against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- was arrested on contested charges of "corruption and terrorism."
A day earlier, on March 18, Imamoglu's university degree was revoked, "citing 'nullity' and 'clear error' as grounds for cancellation... The decision affects Imamoglu and 27 other individuals whose academic credentials have now been invalidated...." according to Turkiye Today.
Imamoglu's detention sparked one of the biggest street demonstrations against Erdogan since he was first elected as national leader in 2002.
On March 29, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul for a mass rally called by the CHP to oppose the jailing of Imamoglu.
