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Turkey jails several Istanbul officials

Turkey jails several Istanbul officials

A Turkish court has jailed 18 Istanbul Municipality employees who are awaiting trial on corruption charges, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The announcement comes amid a crackdown on the opposition in Turkey and following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

Imamoglu, a key political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was jailed in March and is now awaiting trial on corruption charges. He is also accused of aiding a terrorist group.

Imamoglu has denied all charges and his arrest sparked the biggest protests in Turkey in a decade, riots and accusations of a politicized judiciary.

The Turkish government denies all these allegations and says the judiciary is independent.

Broadcaster NTV has reported that 34 of the 52 people who were arrested over the weekend have been released on bail.

Turkish media reported on Saturday that authorities had detained dozens of Istanbul Municipality employees as part of a judicial investigation focused on Imamoglu, expanding a crackdown on the opposition that began last year.

Among the arrested officials are the Municipality's Secretary General, Imamoglu's chief of staff, the chairman and deputy chairman of the Istanbul Water Administration and the head of this department/ REL

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