Turkish prosecutors probe main opposition leader Ozel, oust mayors
The probes, following Ozel's criticism of the judiciary, come amid five additional district mayors' dismissal from their duties.
ANKARA — Prosecutors in Ankara and Istanbul have opened investigations into main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel for allegedly threatening a judicial official and publicly insulting a government figure, the latest move in an expanding crackdown on Turkey’s opposition.
Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Wednesday criticized the Istanbul chief prosecutor over ongoing criminal proceedings that also saw the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in March, triggering weeks-long mass protests that rocked the country.
“Don’t make me lose my temper. We’ll gather in a way that we won’t disperse again,” Ozel had said during a rally in Istanbul earlier on Wednesday.
Following Ozel’s criticism, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had launched an investigation, which was followed by a separate probe initiated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday.
