Istanbul prosecutors have opened a new investigation into the city's jailed opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on charges of espionage, state news agency Anadolu said on Friday.
The probe is the latest targeting Imamoglu, who was arrested in March as part of a corruption investigation and has remained behind bars ever since.
His jailing, which sparked street protests, was widely seen as a political move targeting the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate for the 2028 presidential race. Imamoglu is considered the only contender capable of defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box.
Also targeted in the latest investigation was Necati Ozkan, his campaign manager during the 2019 and 2024 local elections who was arrested at the same time as Imamoglu in March and remains behind bars.
The investigation also named Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of Tele1, a pro-opposition TV channel, who was arrested at his home on Friday, Turkey's journalists' union and the MLSA media rights group said.
"Tele1 editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardag has been detained on charges of espionage in yet another dawn operation. They cannot call him a spy, nor can espionage come from true journalism! He must be released immediately," the union wrote on X.
"Searches were conducted at the home and office of TELE 1 editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardag after he was detained in the morning on allegations of espionage," MLSA posted on X.
The investigation began in July with the arrest of a Turkish businessman, Huseyin Gun, on suspicion of spying for foreign states.
Prosecutors accused him and Ozkan of allegedly sharing confidential electoral data with foreign intelligence services during the 2019 local election campaign.
The new investigation began as an Ankara court threw out another case seeking to overthrow the CHP leadership.
The lawsuit alleged vote buying at the party's 2023 primary at which CHP leader Ozgur Ozel was elected. If successful, it could have ousted him as leader.
Critics say the vote-buying case was one of a string of politically motivated attempts to undermine Turkey's oldest political party, which won a huge victory over Erdogan's AKP in 2024 local elections and has been rising in the polls.
During those elections, CHP candidates were elected mayor in 26 of Istanbul's 39 municipalities. Since then, at least 11 of them have been arrested, including Imamoglu.
With AFP
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