Turkey arrests opposition mayor

A Turkish court formally arrested an Istanbul district mayor from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) over alleged tender-rigging, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday, amid a crackdown on opposition figures.

Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Koseler was detained by police on Thursday under the orders of an Istanbul prosecutor. In total, 22 people were being investigated in the case, Anadolu said. With the latest arrest, the number of the arrested CHP-member district mayors from Istanbul increased to three - one for alleged terrorism ties, two others for alleged tender-rigging.

"We are living in a period that will go down in history as the 'Istanbul unlawfulness'... For the first time in history, three district mayors of Istanbul elected from the CHP are under arrest," said Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a CHP member who is seen as a probable future presidential challenger to Erdogan.

The court ordered the arrest 13 suspects including Koseler late on Monday on charges of bid-rigging and involvement in an organisation with criminal intent, the agency said. The remaining nine suspects were released.

Last week, Anadolu said prosecutors had opened an investigation into alleged irregularities involving three concerts by the Beykoz Municipality last year. The move is the latest in a wave of arrests, detentions and investigations into opposition politicians, mayors and journalists. Critics say the crackdown aims to silence the opposition and weaken President Tayyip Erdogan's rivals' electoral prospects.

Five separate probes, four of them for remarks criticising public officials, into Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu seek up to 23-year jail time and ban him from politics. Imamoglu, who will run as the sole candidate in the internal vote to name CHP's presidential candidate scheduled for March 23, will make a statement to prosecutors on Wednesday regarding a fresh investigation into alleged forgery of official documents related to his university diploma.