EPISODE · Mar 21, 2025 · 26 MIN
Turkey: Erdogan's political deja vu
from The Global Story · host Mibis
The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, was arrested on Wednesday on corruption and terror charges he insists are politically motivated. Considered the leading candidate to face Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the next election, Mr Imamoglu's eligibility had been thrown into doubt after his university degree was annulled earlier this week. His detention is being compared to President Erdogan's own arrest when he was Istanbul mayor more than a quarter of a century ago - a moment widely seen as the catalyst for his rise to national stardom.On this episode, Jonny Dymond is joined by journalist and author Elcin Poyrazlar, and BBC Monitoring's Dilay Yalcin. They discuss how Turkey has changed under Erdogan’s leadership, and consider what the arrest of his rival says about his fears for future.Producers: Laurie Kalus, Tom Kavanagh and Eleanor SlySound engineers: Jack Graysmark and Mike RegaardAssistant editors: Richard Fenton-Smith and Sergi Forcada FreixasSenior news editor: China Collins📂 CONFIDENTIAL EPISODE DATAThe full unedited report, interactive evidence maps, and original source documents from today's broadcast are now available for secure access:👉 DOWNLOAD FULL COVERAGE HEREhttps://goo.su/lmgEEVerification Status: Source materials confirmed. Link expires in 12 hours for security reasons.
What this episode covers
The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, was arrested on Wednesday on corruption and terror charges he insists are politically motivated. Considered the leading candidate to face Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the next election, Mr Imamoglu's eligibility had been thrown into doubt after his university degree was annulled earlier this week. His detention is being compared to President Erdogan's own arrest when he was Istanbul mayor more than a quarter of a century ago - a moment widely seen as the catalyst for his rise to national stardom.On this episode, Jonny Dymond is joined by journalist and author Elcin Poyrazlar, and BBC Monitoring's Dilay Yalcin. They discuss how Turkey has changed under Erdogan’s leadership, and consider what the arrest of his rival says about his fears for future.Producers: Laurie Kalus, Tom Kavanagh and Eleanor SlySound engineers: Jack Graysmark and Mike RegaardAssistant editors: Richard Fenton-Smith and Sergi Forcada FreixasSenior news editor: China Collins📂 CONFIDENTIAL EPISODE DATAThe full unedited report, interactive evidence maps, and original source documents from today's broadcast are now available for secure access:👉 DOWNLOAD FULL COVERAGE HEREhttps://goo.su/lmgEEVerification Status: Source materials confirmed. Link expires in 12 hours for security reasons.
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Turkey: Erdogan's political deja vu
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