Turkish govt expands probe targeting Istanbul city staff

ISTANBUL – A Turkish tribunal accepted an indictment against suspects from a spiritual relation Thursday successful a lawsuit that could person governmental and ineligible repercussions connected the opposition-held Istanbul municipality.

The proceedings against 23 radical progressive with DIAYDER, which stands for Religious Scholars Mutual Aid and Solidarity Association, for purported links to outlawed Kurdish militants volition statesman connected Feb. 18. Nine of the defendants are successful pre-trial detention and immoderate are said to enactment for the Istanbul municipality.

The court's determination follows an Interior Ministry probe announced Sunday against hundreds of municipal unit for alleged panic links. Together, the cases person prompted worries that the authorities could beryllium laying the groundwork for targeting fashionable politician Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen arsenic a imaginable challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan successful elections scheduled for 2023.

Secular absorption Republican People’s Party’s Imamoglu came to powerfulness successful 2019 successful re-run elections aft Erdogan’s ruling enactment contested his win, dealing a monolithic stroke to Erdogan successful Turkey’s astir important city. The absorption enactment has precocious accused the authorities of mishandling the economy, calling for aboriginal elections.

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The 335-page indictment, accepted Thursday, said DIAYDER followed purported acquisition by Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed laminitis of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party oregon PKK, for mounting up an alternate spiritual operation to Turkey’s authoritative spiritual authorization successful bid to garner enactment from spiritual Kurds.

The indictment states that radical with links to the relation were employed arsenic imams and bathers for the deceased successful mentation for Islamic funerals by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. It besides says immoderate of the suspects were handing implicit municipal assistance to families with PKK links.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry said Sunday it launched a “special investigation” against 557 employees of the Istanbul municipality and linked companies. They are accused of links to panic groups, including the PKK, far-left groups and the web of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the authorities blames for the failed 2016 coup attempt.

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Minister Suleyman Soylu said they had identified radical with panic links among employees and argued the determination was to combat terror, including successful nationalist institutions. “It's not political, it's a information issue," helium said.

Imamoglu, defending his 86,000 employees, called for Soylu's resignation. He said municipality unit indispensable contiguous authoritative transgression records successful bid to beryllium considered for employment and had asked the Interior Ministry to supply lists of suspects and accusation to analyse but had not heard back.

Meanwhile, different absorption mayors came retired successful enactment of Imamoglu. They said “unjust and baseless claims” aimed to make suspicions connected their municipalities and were portion of “dirty politics.”

Ozgur Ozel, parliamentary radical person of the Republican People’s Party, repeated calls for aboriginal elections aft criticizing the indictment, which helium said was based lone connected 2 concealed witnesses and a convicted PKK member. He accused the ruling enactment of trying to regenerate the politician of Istanbul with a government-appointed trustee alternatively of going to the polls.

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The lawman president of the ruling party, Numan Kurtulmus, told Haberturk tv Monday it was the government's occupation to place and uncover radical with panic links arsenic helium tried to easiness concerns. “There is nary request to worry. ... I volition accidental again, this has thing to bash with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayor.”

But Erdogan’s cardinal nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, said Thursday that Imamoglu should beryllium sacked if panic links are proven.

The authorities has replaced and jailed galore elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, the 2nd largest absorption enactment successful parliament, for alleged links to the PKK. The PKK, which has waged an insurgency successful Turkey since 1984, is considered a violent radical by Turkey, the United States and others. Since the 2016 failed coup attempt, tens of thousands of radical person been investigated, jailed oregon sacked from authorities jobs for purported panic links.

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