Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party has strongly condemned the arrests of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, along with numerous politicians, artists, and journalists, calling the move a political crackdown aimed at silencing opposition.
İktidara çağrı yapıyoruz: Bu uygulamalardan derhal vazgeçin, yargıyı araçsallaştırmaya son verin!

Merkez Yürütme Kurulumuzun açıklaması:https://t.co/fpnFWiGFSi pic.twitter.com/gFZHFVg37Q— DEM Parti (@DEMGenelMerkezi) March 19, 2025
In a written statement, the DEM Party Executive Board described the arrests, carried out in İstanbul on Wednesday morning, as part of an ongoing ‘civilian coup’ orchestrated by judicial and governmental forces to suppress all political and social opposition in Turkey.
“All of these actions constitute a coup. Turkey is experiencing an increasingly clear civilian coup process, jointly orchestrated by the judiciary and the government, targeting all political and social opposition,” the statement read.
The party argued that the detentions reflect an inability to accept the ruling party’s electoral defeat in last year’s 31 March local elections and are directly aimed at undermining urban consensus—a political strategy in which the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party fielded joint candidates in certain areas to consolidate the opposition vote.
Notably, the urban consensus model was adopted in Esenyurt, İstanbul’s most populous district, where CHP candidate Ahmet Özer was elected mayor. He was later accused of ‘terror-links’, arrested and replaced with a government-appointed trustee.
“Targeting urban consensus, democratic politics, and political cooperation is an expression of frustration over the electoral loss and an act of political revenge,” the DEM Party said.
The statement further denounced the government’s approach as an extension of previous trustee appointments and suppression tactics, calling the arrests an assault on popular will and an attempt to eliminate political rivals.
The DEM Party framed the arrests as a broader attack on hopes for democracy and peace, not only in Turkey but across the wider region.
“This is an attempt to sabotage a process of change that could extend from Turkey to the Middle East. We will never accept this.”
Calling for an immediate reversal of these actions, the statement concluded with a direct appeal to the authorities:
“End these unlawful practices at once. Stop instrumentalising the judiciary. Release Ekrem İmamoğlu and all those detained today immediately.”
