(Bloomberg) — Turkish authorities have opened an investigation into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rivals.
Istanbul's public prosecutor's office accused Imamoglu of making “threatening” statements against chief prosecutor Akin Gurlek and his family, state agency Anadolu reported. Imamoglu rejected the accusations in a post on X.
Imamoglu is a member of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party and is considered Erdogan's leading candidate. He first came to prominence in 2019 after unexpectedly defeating Erdogan's party in elections for Turkey's largest city, a feat he repeated last year. He secured a second term in March, in a vote that polls had suggested was too close to call.
Istanbul's stock index traded largely flat after local media reported the investigation. Previously it had even risen by 0.7%. The lira fell as much as 0.4% to 35.6049 per dollar, extending its slide into a second day.
The Turkish government has increasingly scrutinized opposition-held municipalities after suffering heavy losses in key cities including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Recently, municipal bank accounts have been frozen due to social security debts, hampering the functioning of local governments.
The mayor of Istanbul is also facing a separate case in which he is accused of insulting members of Turkey's election authority. In the 2019 elections, Imamoglu's victory was initially annulled and he was forced into a rerun. The prominent figure in the Turkish opposition faces a political ban if an initial prison sentence of two years and seven months is upheld by higher appeal courts.
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