EU Increases Pressure on Türkiye after Arrest of Imamoglu

Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
TT

EU Increases Pressure on Türkiye after Arrest of Imamoglu

Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on March 27, 2025 during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)

The European Union is ratcheting up pressure on Türkiye over the detention of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as tensions in the country escalate two weeks after his arrest.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos voiced the EU’s strong concern regarding the arrest of Imamoglu.

Kos said that because of what happened in the country, she has cancelled her participation in the diplomatic forum in Antalya which will take place from April 11 to 13 and will not go to Ankara to confer with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

During the parliament’s debate, which focused on the “crackdown on democracy in Türkiye” and the arrest of Imamoglu, Kos said that as a candidate country for EU membership and a member of the Council of Europe, Türkiye is expected to apply the highest democratic standards and practices, including regarding freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections.

She emphasized Türkiye’s strategic importance to Europe, saying “shutting down our channels and areas of cooperation will not benefit anyone, especially the people of Türkiye.”

Also, Emmanouil Kefalogiannis, Chair of the European Parliament’s (EP) Delegation to the EU-Türkiye Joint Parliamentary Committee (KPK), announced he will not attend the committee meeting planned for April 14-15.

EP’s Türkiye Rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor welcomed Kos’s decision to skip the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the EP’s decision to withdraw from the KPK meeting.

On his X account, Amor wrote: “Membership is about democracy. Türkiye’s geopolitical position alone will not be enough to open the doors of the European Union.”

Ankara applied to join the European Union in 1999. But since 2018, accession negotiations have stalled, due to the deteriorating state of the country’s democracy and its relations with the EU.

Meanwhile, the Turkish police detained 11 people suspected of spreading calls for a one-day shopping boycott as part of an ongoing protest against the arrest of Imamoglu.

Main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel had earlier called for a “no shopping day,” scheduled for Wednesday April 2 only, to support 301 students who have been arrested and detained for taking part in the protests.

On Thursday, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a decision to release the 11 suspects, who are not allowed to leave the country.

Among those detained was actor Cem Yigit Uzumoglu, who played Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in the Netflix docuseries “Rise of Empires: Ottoman,” the Actors’ Union said.

Earlier, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects in an investigation into “hatred and discrimination” and “inciting hatred and hostility” among the public, state news agency Anadolu reported. Five of them were later released.

At the headquarters of the Republican People's Party (CHP) in Ankara, Ozel said he will organize a rally every weekend in support of Imamoglu.



The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
TT

The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)

The pace and scale of Afghans returning from Iran are overwhelming already fragile support systems, a senior UN official warned Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people crossing the border daily exhausted and traumatized, relying on humanitarian aid.

So far this year, more than 1.4 million people have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including over 1 million from Iran.

Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn’t leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule, The AP news reported.

The UN special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, called for immediate international support for Afghanistan following a visit to the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province near Iran.

The “sheer volume of returns —many abrupt, many involuntary,” should be setting off alarm bells across the global community, Otunbayeva said.

“Without swift interventions, remittance losses, labor market pressures and cyclical migration will lead to devastating consequences such as the further destabilization of both returnee and host populations, renewed displacement, mass onward movement, and risks to regional stability,” she said.

Returns from Iran peaked in June following a 20 March government deadline requiring all “undocumented” Afghans to leave. The UN migration agency recorded more than 28,000 people crossing back into Afghanistan on June 25.

Afghanistan is a ‘forgotten crisis’ Most Afghans depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. But deep funding cuts are worsening the situation, with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations forced to cut education and health care programs.

Nicole van Batenburg, from the International Federation of the Red Cross, said Afghan children returning from Iran are developing scabies, fever and other illnesses because of deteriorating conditions at the border and the hot weather. Her colleagues were reuniting hundreds of children daily who got separated from their parents.

People lost their belongings and documents in the chaos of hasty exits. Most were only able to take a few suitcases with them, and some were now using their luggage as makeshift furniture.

“Afghanistan is an unseen crisis, and there are so many crises going on at this moment in the world that it seems to be forgotten,” van Batenburg told The Associated Press by phone from the border.

“The problems and the challenges are immense. We’re only talking about the situation here at the border, but these people have to return to some areas where they can live longer and where they can rebuild their lives.”

Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council said many of its staff were hosting returning families in their homes. Authorities were doing their best to mobilize the few resources they had, but local systems were not equipped to cope with “such tremendous” needs.