(Bloomberg) — Turkish authorities have launched an investigation into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rivals.
The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office accused İmamoğlu of making “threatening” statements against Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor Akin Gürek and his family, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Imamoglu dismissed the allegations in a post on X.
Mr. İmamoğlu is a member of Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party and is seen as Mr. Erdogan’s main candidate. He first rose to prominence in 2019 after unexpectedly defeating Erdogan’s party in elections in Turkey’s largest city, a feat he repeated last year. Although he secured victory for a second term in March, opinion polls suggested he would be too narrow to defeat him.
Istanbul’s benchmark stock index traded almost flat after local media reported the investigation. It had recently risen by 0.7%. The lira fell by as much as 0.4% to 35.6049 to the dollar, continuing its decline for the second day.
The Turkish government has increased scrutiny of opposition-held municipalities after suffering heavy losses in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Recently, municipal bank accounts have been frozen due to social security debts, hampering the municipality’s ability to operate.
The Istanbul mayor also faces another lawsuit in which he is accused of insulting a member of Turkey’s election authorities. In the 2019 election, Imammoğlu’s victory was initially canceled and he was forced to run again. A prominent Turkish opposition figure faces a ban from political activity if his initial sentence of two years and seven months in prison is upheld by a higher appeals court.
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