ANKARA, March 19. /TASS/. Turkish police arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition mayor of Istanbul, as part of an anti-corruption crackdown in the republic, NTV reported.

A search in Imamoglu’s home in northern Istanbul is still underway.

He is among more than 100 individuals detained in a probe into suspected corruption, bribery, and cooperation with terrorists. The latter investigation looks into certain agreements between the mayor’s office and the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK allegedly made before last year’s Istanbul mayoral race. According to the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, Imamoglu is facing another investigation for allegedly leading a criminal organization.

Before he was apprehended, Imamoglu vowed to keep fighting in a video message on X. "I will not give up," he said.

On Tuesday, a university in Istanbul voided his diploma. Earlier, the mayor became the only candidate in the future presidential election ahead of a primary. He is seen as a top contender for the presidency in 2028, with the opposition calling for an early vote.

Following Imamoglu’s detention, Turkish authorities limited access to several social media platforms, including YouTube, X, TikTok, and Instagram (banned in Russia; owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation), the NetBlocks internet monitoring service reported on X.