Arrest Erdogan

· March 24, 2025

On March 19, 2025, Turkish security forces arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on charges relating to alleged corruption and terrorism.

Imamoglu’s real sin was preparing to contest the presidency in Turkey. Soner Cagaptay, an Erdogan 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 Erdogan 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 Erdogan’s peace process now. Imamoglu’s arrest signals that the only way Erdogan will release Abdullah Öcalan from prison is in a body bag.

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. Erdogan, 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 $50,000 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, Erdogan is personally responsible for thousands of deaths. Turkish Airlines 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, Erdogan 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 Erdogan’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.

If Duterte can be a target, not only should Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself, but also Emine “Imelda” Erdogan, and Bilal Erdogan must be in the docket. European engagement and diplomatic nicety pour gasoline on the fire and convinces Erdogan 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 Erdogan-free future could mean. Arrest Erdogan now