Breaking News... Legal action initiated against 261 social media accounts: 37 people detained over İmamoğlu posts!

Reactions continue following the dawn operation yesterday morning in which Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained as part of a 'terrorism' and 'corruption' investigation.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that following the detention decision, a total of 18 million 647 thousand 269 posts were made on the X platform regarding the subject, noting that 66 percent of these posts were made by named accounts, while the remaining 34 percent were made by bot accounts.

Furthermore, he announced that 261 suspicious accounts, 62 of which are abroad, have been identified within the scope of crimes involving inciting the public to hatred and enmity and inciting to commit crimes, and that 37 of these individuals have been apprehended.

Yerlikaya's statement is as follows:

Following the decision to detain a total of 106 suspects, including the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, as part of the investigations initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it has been determined that provocative posts were made via certain social media accounts within the framework of;

-“Inciting the Public to Hatred and Enmity” and

-“Inciting to Commit Crimes.”

A total of 261 suspicious account managers, 62 of whom are abroad, have been identified as having made these posts.

Following coordinated efforts by our Cyber Crimes Department and Security Department, 37 suspects have been apprehended, and efforts to apprehend the remaining suspects are ongoing.

It has been observed that a total of 18,647,269 posts were made on the social media platform Twitter (X) regarding this topic between the time of the detention procedures and 06:00 on March 20, 2025, and it has been determined that 66% of these posts were from named accounts and 34% were from bot accounts.

Within the framework of the authority granted by law, virtual patrol activities are being carried out 24/7 in the internet environment by the Cyber Crimes Department for the purpose of combating crime and criminals."

Following the decision to detain a total of 106 suspects, including the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, as part of the investigations initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it has been determined that provocative posts were made via certain social media accounts within the framework of;

-“Inciting the Public to Hatred and Enmity” and
-“Inciting to Commit Crimes…”

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) March 20, 2025