Turkish prosecutors probe main opposition leader in crackdown

ISTANBUL - Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on charges of threatening and insulting Istanbul's chief prosecutor, adding to a broad crackdown on the opposition.

The clampdown is centred on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival and leads him in some opinion polls. The CHP's Imamoglu was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that it had launched the probe into CHP leader Ozgur Ozel over comments he made about the chief prosecutor at a rally in Istanbul on Wednesday, criticising the targeting of the opposition.

CHP spokesman Deniz Yucel criticised the decision to open the investigation.

"We will not succumb to this system of lawlessness that you have created," he said on X, addressing the authorities.

In another step, Turkey's Interior Ministry dismissed three Istanbul district mayors who were arrested this week as part of the corruption investigations at the municipality, state media said on Thursday.

The ministry also removed from their posts two mayors who were arrested under the same investigations in the southern province of Adana, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. All five of these mayors are from the CHP.

Imamoglu's arrest in March triggered mass protests, economic turmoil and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government denies the accusations and says the judiciary is independent.

Since his arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities. Access to Imamoglu's X account was also blocked in Turkey this month.