Imamoglu's detention inflames politics: What did politicians say about the detention decision?

Following the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the statements of political parties and figures have become a subject of curiosity. While the CHP and opposition parties described the event as a 'political operation,' ruling parties emphasized that the process was a 'legal procedure.' The reactions of politicians indicate that the event will maintain its place on the agenda. Here are the reactions...

CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel: ''We are facing a coup attempt against our next president... Our nation loves its state, but if the state is pitted against the nation by some, the nation will not allow it. The ultimate power is the nation, and in the end, the nation wins... It will be the same again. We will not surrender. In the end, the nation's will shall prevail, and Turkey will win.''

IYI Party Chairman Musavat Dervisoglu: "The name of what the Erdogan government is doing today is an attempt to dismantle the constitutional order. This is a civil coup in the full sense of the word. This terrible step is a constitutional crime committed by Erdogan. I am filing a criminal complaint with the honorable prosecutors of the Republic, and I am also complaining about this tyranny to our noble nation."

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli: ''The Republic of Turkey is a national, unitary, democratic, and social state governed by the rule of law. The peace of the individual and society is an indispensable value. National solidarity and justice are the determining factors of every action and intervention. Every human being is equal on the basis of law, humanity, and faith. Regardless of their duty, position, or rank, everyone has equal rights and obligations within the set of norms. No one can be subjected to discrimination or segregation, nor do they possess ideological, political, or economic superiority or privileged status.''

Former CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu: ''This intervention against the national will, law, and democracy is unacceptable. Those who try to take revenge on the Republican People's Party have fallen from the eyes and hearts of the nation. Our search for rights, law, and justice will continue. I convey my feelings of support and solidarity to Ekrem Bey.''

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavas: ''What is the indication of rushing to detain a mayor today who has previously gone to the courthouse to give a statement? If you are truly seeking justice, the fundamental principles of law must first be adhered to.''

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Basarir: ''They are in such fear that the Istanbul Governorship is striking a blow to people's lives by stopping metro services and closing streets! Even if you close the metro stations that provide access to the squares and surround the roads with barriers, it is in vain! You will not be able to stand before the nation!''

DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakirhan: ''The operation carried out against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu and many others, including mayors, journalists, and politicians, is a clear attack on democracy and the popular will. We reject this lawlessness against the will of the people and condemn it in the strongest terms. This wrong path must be abandoned immediately, and the will of the people must be respected. As the DEM Party, we will continue to stand against all kinds of pressure on democratic politics. We state that we stand with the people of Istanbul and all segments fighting for democracy in Turkey, and we demand the immediate release of Ekrem Imamoglu and everyone who has been detained.''

DEM Party Co-Chair Tulay Hatimogullari: ''It is unacceptable that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, district mayors, and dozens of people, including journalists, were detained by raiding their homes in the early hours of the morning! We reject it in the strongest terms! This operation is a political operation that does not recognize legal boundaries. For the sake of ballot boxes, votes, and positions, it is taking social tension and polarization in Turkey to an irreparable point. The detention of the mayor of this country's largest city with a morning raid for political motives is a shame that will not be forgotten for hundreds of years. This operation, which shatters the belief in justice, is the designing of politics through the judiciary. What Turkey needs is not detaining mayors with police raids at the crack of dawn; it is more democracy and more law. We warn everyone. As the belief in justice ends, the hope for an equal and fair life together will be greatly harmed. The path being taken is not the right one. It is harmful. The immediate release of Mr. Imamoglu and the detained individuals, and removing judicial processes as a source of revenge and tension, is for the benefit of 85 million.''

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Ozgur Celik: ''Right now, they are attempting a coup against democracy through the judiciary they have politicized. This is a crime! The criminals will be held accountable before history. Our bureaucracy and law enforcement forces should not be partners in this crime. This coup attempt will be condemned in the conscience of our nation.''

CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut: ''There is no law; they are designing politics in courthouse corridors through the judiciary. Our Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was elected by the votes of millions of citizens, and our colleagues are being detained. These detentions are a coup against the will of the people, democracy, and the rule of law. We will not surrender to the Palace's lawlessness; we will resist with every one of our members.''

DEM Party MP Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit: 'A coup is being staged against the will of the people of Istanbul! They are trying to usurp Istanbul, which they could not win in the elections, with conspiracy cases and detentions. The operation against Ekrem Imamoglu and his colleagues is a coup attempt targeting the will of the people. We will not remain silent in the face of this lawlessness! Those who try to take over the IMM with trustees will not be able to stand against the will of the people. As honorable citizens of this country, we will not allow the trustee regime, coups made with the stick of the judiciary, and political design!''

CHP Istanbul MP Cemal Enginyurt: ''The country has turned into a prison. Ekrem Imamoglu and hundreds of people were detained. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, close all democratic institutions, including the TBMM. Arrest the entire opposition. Establish a Turkey unique to yourself. Even if the dungeons are ours and the palaces are yours, we will resist.''

CHP Secretary General Selin Sayek Boke: ''We are facing a coup attempt against the people, the will of the people, and those elected by the people. The perpetrator of this coup is a narrow and small interest group that wants to hold the country hostage for its own power. Ekrem Imamoglu, the Republican People's Party, and this nation have not bowed to you, do not bow, and will not bow. We will thwart this coup together. There is no salvation alone; either all together or none of us.''

DEM Party MYK: ''As we have stated many times before, all these practices are coup practices. Turkey is experiencing a civil coup process that is becoming increasingly evident and is a 'joint production of the judiciary and the government' targeting all political and social opposition. The lawless, arbitrary, and anti-democratic practices that have been carried out against our party and our politics for years have unfortunately taken the entirety of Turkey hostage at the stage reached. This trustee-loving and coup-plotting mentality is the biggest conspiracy set against the future of Turkey and society.

All the justifications put forward in the detention operation are excuses that will not cover up this coup and lawlessness. Targeting the city consensus, democratic politics, and political cooperation is the indigestion and revenge of the defeat suffered in the local elections. Both yesterday's trustee practices and today's operation are attacks on the popular will. It is also an attempt to eliminate political rivals and maintain power for the future. What is happening today is also an attack aimed at breaking the hopes of the peoples of Turkey for peace and democracy. It is an effort to sabotage the change initiative that will start in Turkey and spread to the Middle East. We never accept it. These practices will never be of any benefit to Turkey or those who approve of them. As it was yesterday, all these practices will backfire in the conscience of society today.

Our party will continue to expand its struggle for the expansion of the democratic political space under all conditions and circumstances. It will stand against lawlessness, coups, and arbitrariness, no matter who they come from. It will defend city consensus, joint struggle, democracy, peace, and freedom with greater determination than ever before. We make an open call to the government: Abandon these practices immediately. Stop instrumentalizing the judiciary. Release those detained today, especially Ekrem Imamoglu, immediately.''

Koray Aydin: ''Turkey is facing a judicial coup today. Our country is facing anti-democratic and extra-legal practices that do not look for martial law and state of emergency regimes today. In Turkey, which is a democratic state governed by the rule of law, the judiciary has become a tool for the political government to eliminate the rivals it could not defeat in the elections. While the government is conducting a process to release the terrorist leader in Imrali, whom the Turkish judiciary has convicted of establishing and managing a terrorist organization and treason, under the name of the right to hope, the same government wants to convict its political rival, whom it could not defeat in the elections, by labeling him with allegations of corruption and city consensus.

The government's goal is to seize the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which it could not win in the elections, and to eliminate Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a presidential candidate, with a judicial coup. There is no need to look for any other reason; all these things are being constructed and executed in line with this scenario of the government. What is done to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu and his friends is a summary execution, character assassination, and dignity slaughter. In the end, justice will be served sooner or later, but these practices of the government that trample on democracy and law will go down in history as a document of shame. In the end, the political government, which is the number one political responsible for all these anti-democratic and extra-legal practices, will be condemned before the law, the nation, and history.''

Workers' Party of Turkey: ''The detention of IMM Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, mayors, and his accompanying colleagues is a clear coup against the will of the people. The palace regime has completely lost its social legitimacy. Our country does not have a single day to lose in the darkness of the palace. Our working people will not surrender to this darkness; they will definitely disperse the darkness into which our country is pushed and reach the light. We will resist all together, we will win with solidarity.''

Sol Party: ''It is clear as day that the Palace regime, which has fallen into a minority, is trying to survive with tyranny. No matter what you do, there is no power that can stand before the people. The operation against Ekrem Imamoglu is a judicial coup ordered by the Palace; we will fight together. We will win together.''

DEM Party Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayors Ayse Serra Bucak Kucuk and Dogan Hatun: ''Above all, Ekrem Imamoglu represents the will of millions of Istanbulites, and this will is being attempted to be usurped. This anti-democratic practice, which is applied with unlimited arbitrariness to DEM Party municipalities, has now become more evident throughout Turkey. These extra-legal operations carried out on behalf of the political government target all political and social opposition. These extra-legal practices are also aimed at breaking the hopes of the peoples of Turkey for peace and democracy regarding the future. It is proven by past examples that these practices do not bring any benefit to anyone. These practices have been condemned in the conscience of society. We will stand against lawlessness and arbitrariness, no matter who they come from. We will defend city consensus, joint struggle, democracy, peace, and freedom with greater determination than ever before. Everyone who has been detained, especially Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu, who is the will of the Istanbulites, should be released.''