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Turkey investigates opposition mayors over coronavirus aid campaign

The Turkish government is using the COVID-19 crisis to further squeeze rivals, this time with a criminal investigation into pandemic fundraising efforts by opposition mayors.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu speaks after being awarded with the German-Turkish Friendship Award 'Kybele 2019' in Berlin, Germany, November 8, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch - RC267D9SXAMU
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu speaks after being awarded the German-Turkish Friendship Award in Berlin, Germany, Nov. 8, 2019. — REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Turkey’s Interior Ministry has launched twin criminal probes against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas.

In an interview with the pro-secular opposition Sozcu newspaper, Imamoglu revealed that the investigations stemming from the mayors’ respective fundraising campaigns to help contain the novel coronavirus pandemic in their cities had started a week ago.

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