İmamoğlu detention: ‘Election alliance with Kurds is not a terror crime,’ says MP

More than 100 people have been detained in İstanbul as part of three separate investigations launched under orders from the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Among those detained are İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, district mayors and several senior municipal officials. Prosecutors accuse them of “aiding the PKK/KCK terrorist organization by knowingly participating in the urban consensus initiative,” referring to the cooperation in last year’s local election between İmamoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a CHP deputy representing the Kurdish-populated city of Diyarbakır, opposed this idea and labeled the operation as “political robbery.”

“This is a coup against politics and democracy. Now, they will try to seize the municipalities as well. The government’s actions show that we are facing an outright coup and a system of political confiscation,” he said.

‘No peace can come from this fake democracy’

Tanrıkulu criticized the government’s focus on the urban consensus, saying, “The reason the urban consensus is being targeted is that the government lost İstanbul. They lost again, and this time by a significant margin. CHP formed an institutional alliance for the 2024 local elections. In İstanbul, it partnered with the DEM Party under the framework of the urban consensus, which was a political decision. The goal was to ensure representation for Kurds in areas where they are not the majority, particularly in metropolitan cities. Now, they are trying to criminalize this representation.”

He argued that the investigation is “part of an effort to target İmamoğlu specifically” and constitutes “a direct intervention in the activities of political parties and the right to free elections.”

“The real crime is interfering with this right,” he said. “After all, the ruling party itself has formed alliances in past elections. This is not a crime but a democratic process. What we are witnessing today is a stark illustration of the dangers facing Turkey. No peace can come from this fake democracy.”

Urban consensus

The urban consensus was a strategy developed by the DEM Party. It aimed to field candidates who had broad support across different social and political groups in each city. This approach allowed DEM to collaborate with other political parties in different regions and back agreed-upon candidates.

As part of this strategy, CHP revised its candidate list ahead of the elections in Esenyurt and Güngören districts. In Esenyurt, Professor Ahmet Özer was nominated under the urban consensus framework. He was arrested on terrorism charges and removed from his post in October. 

Also, DEM didn’t field candidates in some İstanbul districts and its members were elected to municipal councils through CHP lists. 

Last month, İstanbul prosecutors opened an investigation into the cooperation on the allegation that it was orchestrated by the PKK militant group. (TY/VK)