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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the country\u2019s main opposition party was attempting to obstruct a major corruption investigation targeting Istanbul\u2019s jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.<\/p>\n
Erdogan said the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP), to which Imamoglu belongs, was trying to derail the investigation by \u201cshouting\u201d and accusing state institutions of politicisation, in a bid to block justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what you do, you cannot obstruct the course of justice,\u201d Erdogan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the judiciary\u2019s duty, on behalf of the Turkish nation, to break those dirty hands,\u201d Erdogan said in comments to officials of his ruling AK Party.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn time, the public will see just how far this network, which has entangled Istanbul like ivy, truly reaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opposition, particularly the CHP, says the charges against Imamoglu are politically motivated and anti-democratic. Imamoglu is seen as the strongest likely rival of Erdogan in a future presidential contest.<\/p>\n
The government denies any political influence over the judiciary and has accused the opposition of panicking in response to the corruption investigation.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of Turks, including university students, have heeded opposition calls to protest. The protests have been mostly peaceful but nearly 2,000 people have been detained and around 300 of them jailed pending trial.<\/p>\n
The arrest of Imamoglu, and the mass protests it has triggered, has\u00a0sent\u00a0the lira currency to a record low, fuelling a sell-off of Turkish assets that has destabilised company balance sheets and driven up already high borrowing costs. [Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n