“At this stage, we prefer not to make any further comments,” AFP told POLITICO.
İmamoğlu, a highly popular secularist, has been seen as a contender to succeed the Islamist Erdoğan. He has been officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition Republican People’s Party for the next elections, which are currently expected in 2028.
However, his university diploma was annulled Tuesday, which would rule him out as a candidate, and he was subsequently detained by authorities Wednesday, before being formally arrested Sunday.
İmamoğlu’s arrest has sparked outrage among Turkish civil society and international partners, with France’s foreign ministry denouncing it as “a serious attack on democracy.”
Since his initial detention, tens of thousands of supporters have taken to the streets in more than a dozen cities, sometimes clashing with riot police and facing water cannons, and hundreds have been arrested.
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While its statutes guarantee editorial independence, the French state plays a key role in its funding and three of its board members are appointed by the government.
