Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a popular figure, had boasted jokingly that he was the only person to have beaten Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party in three local elections. On Wednesday, dozens of police officers raided his residence around dawn and detained him for questioning as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. Many see the arrest as part of a broader campaign to eliminate a key challenger to Erdogan. The move has raised concerns about the fairness of future elections under Erdogan who has grown increasingly authoritarian. It is also the latest in a string of crackdowns on opponents and dissenters in Turkey in recent years.
