Istanbul, Aug 2 (dpa/GNA) – Several thousand people marched through Istanbul on Thursday, to protest the arrest of Üsküdar district Mayor, Sinem Dedetaş, a member of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The peaceful demonstration, which included many elderly participants, ended outside the district’s town hall on the city’s Asian side, a dpa reporter said.
Dedetaş was detained in a police raid on Wednesday. She is under investigation on charges including bribery, misconduct in public office and leading a criminal organization over alleged irregularities in the municipality’s permit process, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Speaking at the protest, Istanbul provincial CHP chairman Özgür Çelik struck a defiant tone. “Even if they put all of us in prison, they will not succeed,” he said, addressing the judiciary.
Dedetaş’ sister also read out a message from the detained mayor. One protester, Ozan, who attended the rally with his son, said he had campaigned actively for the CHP. He described the allegations against Dedetaş as baseless. “We all know this is a political operation,” he said.
Dedetaş became Üsküdar’s first female mayor, after winning around 50% of the vote in the 2024 local elections, defeating the candidate of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which had governed the conservative district for years.
Opposition-run municipalities in Istanbul have faced a series of arrests since late 2024. The CHP emerged as the largest party in the 2024 local elections, winning more votes nationwide than the governing AKP for the first time.
The opposition and independent observers have described the raids and detentions as an attempt by the government to weaken its political rivals. Government officials reject the accusations and insist the judiciary acts independently.
GNA