Turkey arrests another opposition leader as crackdown widens

The head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) branch in Ankara, Ümit Erkol, was arrested and remanded in custody on Sunday following questioning in a corruption investigation.

He was detained along with eight others as part of a probe conducted by the Izmir prosecutor's office into alleged irregularities in a contract between the city and a construction cooperative, Izbeton.

Prosecutors cite accusations of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, forgery of official documents and failure of supervisory duties. Ankara's CHP mayor Mansur Yavas swiftly denounced the arrest, insisting on X that Erkol is "a well-known figure with a clear address and a precise public role," adding that there is "no risk of flight, no possibility of tampering with evidence." 

"If an arrest warrant is issued under these circumstances, one cannot speak of justice," he said.

The arrest is the latest in a widening crackdown on Turkey's opposition. Since the detention of Istanbul's popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in March 2025, who had been designated as the CHP's presidential candidate and was widely seen as the only politician capable of defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — four CHP mayors have been arrested, including the mayor of Bursa, Turkey's fourth largest city.

Imamoglu's trial, which opened on March 9 alongside 413 co-defendants, has been widely condemned as politically motivated. 

With presidential elections scheduled for May 2028, the systematic targeting of opposition figures raises serious questions about the state of Turkish democracy.