Turkey's opposition leader, Ekrem Imamoglu, has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of turning Turkey into a "republic of fear" by destroying democratic institutions and suppressing critics.
"For years, Erdogan's regime has withdrawn from democratic accountability, silenced the media, replaced elected leaders with bureaucrats, controlled the judiciary and manipulated elections," Imamoglu wrote in a column published Friday in the American daily, the New York Times.
Imamoglu, 53, the mayor of Istanbul, has been held in the high-security Marmara prison since his arrest last week on corruption charges.
He also faces suspicions of committing terrorist acts, which he has denied.
His arrest in Istanbul has sparked nationwide protests, as thousands of people took to the streets, while hundreds of them, including journalists, were briefly detained.
"The large-scale arrests of protesters and journalists in recent years have sent a chilling message: no one is safe," Imamoglu warned.
He has also criticized what he described as international "silence."
"What about the central governments of the world? Their silence is deafening," he wrote, citing the reactions of American and European leaders.
His imprisonment is considered a political move to remove a key opponent from the upcoming presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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