The Turkish Interior Ministry has suspended arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and two heads of Istanbul municipalities from their positions, the ministry said.
"Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on charges of illegally obtaining personal data, taking bribes, and engaging in tender irregularities. In accordance with Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of the Municipalities Law, he has been suspended from his duties by the Interior Ministry," the document reads.
Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç called on everyone to abstain from commenting on the arrest of the Istanbul mayor to avoid influencing judges and to wait for the outcome. He noted that judicial processes were ongoing.
"Judges are bound by the contents of the case in issuing verdicts in investigations and prosecution and come to a legal conclusion based on evidence, allegations and defense. Therefore, it is wrong to define an ongoing judicial prosecution as a political prosecution,” Tunç said.
According to him, shifting legal interpretation to a political ground may cause public misperception and contradict the principle of the state of law.
