Turkey has been gripped by mass protests for weeks following the arrest of Istanbul’s former mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who remains in pre-trial detention.
Imamoglu was taken into custody after an arrest warrant was issued by the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office’s anti-money laundering division.
Now, international media report that his lawyer, Mehmet Pelivan, has also been arrested.
According to the official statement, Pelivan is under investigation for alleged “money laundering of assets derived from criminal activities.”
The latest arrest is expected to further fuel public outrage, as critics accuse the Turkish government of politically motivated prosecutions ahead of upcoming elections.
Protests continue in major cities, with demonstrators demanding Imamoglu’s release and an end to what they describe as a crackdown on political opposition.
