On March 19, 2025, Turkish security forces arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on charges relating to alleged corruption and terrorism.
İmamoğlu’s real sin was preparing to contest the presidency in Turkey. Soner Cagaptay, an Erdoğan biographer at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy declared, “The unthinkable has just happened in Turkey.”
With all due respect to Mr. Cagaptay, this arrest was very thinkable for anyone not blinded by wishful thinking and the hope that somehow Erdoğan would change.
After all, this is not the first time he has arrested an opponent whose defiance enraged him and whose charisma frightened him. Kurds would be foolish to trust Erdoğan’s peace process now. Imamoglu’s arrest signals that the only way Erdoğan will release Abdullah Öcalan from prison is in a body bag.
- Erdoğan’s disdain for democracy and rule-of-law have always been clear. What is most remarkable is not that Erdogan kneecaps rivals, but rather international institutions allow him to get away with it.
- The Turkish dictator, after all, flouts European Court of Human Rights rulings. His family members directly profit from the Islamic State.
Erdoğan has never explained how he and his immediate family members could become billionaires many times over on civil service salaries.
His corruption stemming from his days as mayor are real rather than imaginary; he has never explained how he and his immediate family members could become billionaires many times over on civil service salaries. No, Mr. Erdoğan, the tape recording of you and your son discussing how to hide a billion dollars in cash were not fraudulent, and questions about your wife’s $50,000 handbags won’t go away.
Whether directly in Turkey’s extensive prison system or indirectly through the machinations of Turkey’s intelligence service and its support for groups ranging from the Islamic State to Libyan militias and Syrian Al Qaeda affiliates, Erdoğan is personally responsible for thousands of deaths. Turkish Air apparently smuggled weaponry to Boko Haram to kill Nigerian Christians. Arming both sides of the Sudanese civil war—the world’s bloodiest ongoing conflict—potentially brings his victims into the hundreds of thousands if not more.
After the International Criminal Court indicted former Sudanese Leader Omar al-Bashir, Erdoğan welcomed Bashir with open arms. “A Muslim could not commit genocide; he is not capable of it,” the Turkish leader quipped about the Sudanese dictator responsible for the deaths of millions in southern Sudan and Darfur.
This statement should provide insight into Erdoğan’s mindset: Whether it is the slaughter of Armenians, Greeks, Yezidis, animists, or Tigrayans, the religion of the perpetrator excuses the violence and the religion of the victim justifies it.
For too long, the global south has complained that the International Criminal Court focused its fire exclusively on African leaders and urged a broader array of indictments.
Rather than giving him red carpet welcomes, it is time Europeans greeted him with an arrest warrant and an express flight to The Hague.
Putting aside the fact that violations should determine human rights enforcement rather than a quota, the Court has begun targeting others, most recently former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly ordering extrajudicial executions of drug dealers and gang members.
If Duterte can be a target, not only should Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself, but also Emine “Imelda” Erdoğan, and Bilal Erdoğan must be in the docket. European engagement and diplomatic nicety pour gasoline on the fire and convinces Erdoğan he can get away with repression and murder.
Rather than giving him red carpet welcomes, it is time Europeans greeted him with an arrest warrant and an express flight to The Hague. The gangs Turkish intelligence controls in Germany may riot for two or three days but when Turks perceive Europe has a spine, they may actually consider what an Erdoğan-free future could mean. Arrest Erdoğan now.
