BRUSSELS — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday lambasted Turkey after authorities arrested President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s top political foe.
Speaking on arrival at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, Scholz sharply criticized the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu as “a very, very bad sign” for Turkey’s democracy and relations with the EU — and urged the Turkish leadership to put “an immediate end to this.”
Scholz said that Berlin and Brussels had put a lot of effort into improving relations with Turkey in recent years. “That is why the arrest of such a key opposition politician as the mayor of Istanbul is a very, very bad sign,” he said.
The chancellor added: “It is depressing for democracy in Turkey, but it is certainly also depressing for relations between Europe and Turkey.”
The arrest of İmamoğlu, who hails from the opposition secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), happened just days before he was due to be selected as a presidential candidate for the Turkish opposition.
Prosecutors accuse him of corruption and aiding a terrorist group, arguing that he is suspected of leading a “criminal organization.”
Protests erupted in Turkey on Wednesday evening following the arrest, with police detaining more than 100 people.
“We can only call for an immediate end to this and for the opposition and the government to compete with each other rather than the opposition being put on trial,” Scholz said.
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