Turkey jails the opposition: fighting corruption or crushing rivals?
With Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu jailed and the main opposition CHP hit by court rulings, critics say Erdoğan is dismantling democracy. The government insists it is enforcing the law against a vast corruption network.
The summary above is a neutral framing. Below, each side reports the same story in its own words — judge for yourself.
Authorities and pro-government media frame İmamoğlu as the head of a criminal network that rigged tenders and caused billions in public losses, casting the trial as a lawful corruption case, not politics.
The CHP and rights groups say the charges are fabricated to remove Erdoğan's strongest rival before any election — pointing to jailed mayors, a court ousting the CHP leader, and the country's biggest protests in a decade.
