Four days before his nomination as presidential candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP, center left, secular), Turkey's largest opposition force, Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning, March 19, by several dozen police officers who came to his home. In a video message shared by his team, the mayor said that security forces raided his home with around 20 vehicles. He accused the authorities of using the police for political ends.

As the morning progressed, there were reports of more than a hundred arrests of Imamoglu allies and CHP elected representatives at the same time. The Demirören news agency (DHA) reported that detention orders had been issued against his inner circle, including his press adviser Murat Ongun; the mayor of Sisli, Resul Emrah Sahan; the municipality's deputy secretary general, Mahir Polat; and the mayor of Beylikdüzü, Mehmet Murat Calik.

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