DEM Party Central Executive Committee holds emergency meeting following 'Imamoğlu operation'

Following an emergency meeting held in response to the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, district mayors, and journalists, the DEM Party Central Executive Committee (MYK) stated: "This operation is a political pressure operation that cannot be reconciled with law and justice. These detentions, carried out under the guise of law by instrumentalizing the judiciary, are a clear indication that democratic politics have been suspended, the judiciary has been made a tool of politics, and a civil coup has been implemented." 

In the investigation launched against İmamoğlu on charges of "corruption," 100 people, including Beylikdüzü Mayor Murat Çalık and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) executives, were detained, while 6 people, including Şişli Mayor Resul Ekrem Şahan and İBB Secretary General Mahir Polat, were detained in an investigation launched on terrorism charges due to the "urban consensus."

Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained within the scope of two separate investigations launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "corruption" and "terrorism."

The DEM Party MYK also decided to hold an emergency meeting in Diyarbakır following the detention of İmamoğlu, district municipal co-mayors, politicians, and journalists.  

Making a statement after the meeting, the DEM Party MYK noted the following:

"We will escalate our struggle against injustice and oppression by embracing democratic values.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025, has gone down in history as a dark stain on democracy. In the early hours of the morning, Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, district mayors, journalists, and dozens of others were detained in an operation where the law was trampled upon. As the DEM Party, we strongly condemn this operation, which was carried out with unlawful and political motives, and we do not accept it at all.

This operation is a political pressure operation that cannot be reconciled with law and justice. These detentions, carried out under the guise of law by instrumentalizing the judiciary, are a clear indication that democratic politics have been suspended, the judiciary has been made a tool of politics, and a civil coup has been implemented.

As the DEM Party, we have always stood by democracy and the law, and we continue to do so. One of the fundamental foundations of our decades-long struggle is to stand by the will of the people against attacks on democratic politics. Today, as in the past, we are against political coups and lawlessness. Our principled stance is to defend a fair, libertarian, and democratic life. Our side is clear: Democracy, democracy, democracy.

The Call for Peace and a Democratic Society by Mr. Öcalan, announced to the public on February 27, is the compass of our struggle. The Call for Peace and a Democratic Society, which is the Call of the Century, is a manifesto for 85 million people to meet with peace and democracy, and for the construction of equal and free political rights for everyone. Peace and democracy are the only way out for the future of this country. In a democratic society built with peace, there is no place for politics to be designed by the judiciary or for the will of the people to be usurped.

While the ways to truly bring society, the state, and the republic together with democracy have emerged with the Call of the Century, embarking on such political operations is incompatible with the spirit of the process. While the ways to truly bring society, the state, and the republic together with democracy are clear, embarking on such political operations increases disbelief in the process of peace and a democratic society.

At a time when efforts to ensure internal peace are intensifying, portraying the urban consensus as if it were a crime will lead to a series of mistakes that cannot be compensated for. Urban consensus is a legitimate and legal practice of democracy. It is not a crime for all segments living in a city to form a democratic management model through primary elections; it is the foundation of democratic life. Criminalizing this model and using it as a justification for the detention of mayors and administrators is a mental breakdown.

These unlawful practices must be ended immediately. Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and everyone who has been detained must be released as soon as possible. We have opposed oppression, tyranny, lawlessness, injustice, coups, and the usurpation of will, no matter who they come from or when. And we will continue to oppose them.

We are together and side-by-side with our millions of citizens in this country whose hearts beat for democracy. From Diyarbakır to Istanbul, our will is complete in weaving democratic life together. In democratic societies built with peace, there is no place for civil coups, trustees, and conspiracies. As the DEM Party, we will continue to escalate our struggle against all kinds of injustice and oppression by holding tightly to democratic values and the peace process."

News Source: 12punto