Turkey arrests 37 people due to online posts for Imamoglu

Imamoglu, President Recep Tayip Erdogan's main political rival, was arrested Wednesday on charges of corruption and support of a terrorist group.

The main opposition party has named his arrest “tination for the stamp against our future president”.

Thousands of people took to the streets and at university campuses in various cities, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, to protest slogans against the government, despite authorities stopping the protests for four days soon after Imamoglu's arrest.

Turkish authorities identified 261 accounts in social media -- including 62 abroad -- with provocative “forwards that promote crime and hatred” following the arrest of Imamoglu and 105 other people and are continuing to track down the remaining suspects, Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said at X.

The minister added that 18.6 million posts about Imamoglu were distributed to the X within 24 hours of his ban.

Imamoglu, 54, leads before Erdogan in some of the polls in Turkey.

In addition to preventing protests, authorities closed several roads and limited access to certain social networks.

“They hastily arrested our mayor, whom we elected with our votes”, said Ali Izar, an opposition supporter, as he was heading to work in downtown Istanbul.

I don't think this is democratic practice and I condemn it”, he said.

Turkey also seized a construction company co-owned by Imamoglu, the Istanbul Prosecutor General's Office said.

Authorities also confiscated a company owned by Imamoglu, the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office announced.

The prosecution said control over company “Imamoglu Construction, Trade and Industry” was taken by the tribunal, given reports of financial crimes investigations.

Most of the 105 people arrested along with Imamoglu are part of Istanbul's municipal staff.

“The people will give their answer again”, said another supporter of Imamoglu, Yusuf Demirci, 34, in Istanbul.