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Istanbul Mayor's Staff Targeted By Dozens Of Arrest Warrants

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, September 30, 2020. (Reuters)September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, September 30, 2020. (Reuters)September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Istanbul Mayor's Staff Targeted By Dozens Of Arrest Warrants

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, September 30, 2020. (Reuters)September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, September 30, 2020. (Reuters)September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Turkish authorities have issued 47 arrest warrants for municipal officials and staff across Istanbul, whose mayor -- the main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- has been jailed since March, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.

The warrants were based on "four separate corruption investigations centred on Istanbul", Anadolu said, without revealing how many people were actually taken into custody, AFP reported.

The March 19 arrest and jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu sparked the biggest street protests Türkiye had seen in decades.

Police had already detained nearly 70 people in subsequent raids linked to alleged corruption at Istanbul City Hall, including Imamoglu's private secretary and his private protection officer.

The latest warrants targeted a former opposition lawmaker and five mayors of Istanbul districts, according to Anadolu.

The private television station Halk, seen as close to the opposition CHP party that Imamoglu belongs to, said that nine district mayors -- out of a total of 39 -- had now been arrested and were being kept in custody.

The CHP, which has nominated Imamoglu as its candidate in presidential elections due in 2028, did not immediately comment on the latest warrants.

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Russian Air Defenses Shoot Down Four Drones Headed for Moscow, Mayor Says

Tourists walk at Red Square enjoying a warm evening with temperatures of 26 C (78.8 F), after weeks of unusually cool and rainy weather with temperatures of 13 C (55.4 F), in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP)
Tourists walk at Red Square enjoying a warm evening with temperatures of 26 C (78.8 F), after weeks of unusually cool and rainy weather with temperatures of 13 C (55.4 F), in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP)
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Russian Air Defenses Shoot Down Four Drones Headed for Moscow, Mayor Says

Tourists walk at Red Square enjoying a warm evening with temperatures of 26 C (78.8 F), after weeks of unusually cool and rainy weather with temperatures of 13 C (55.4 F), in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP)
Tourists walk at Red Square enjoying a warm evening with temperatures of 26 C (78.8 F), after weeks of unusually cool and rainy weather with temperatures of 13 C (55.4 F), in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP)

Russian air defenses shot down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, the city's mayor said, while one of the capital's main airports temporarily halted outgoing flights.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were working at the sites of the downed drones, but gave no information on potential damage.

Russia's Defense Ministry, in a report on Telegram, said air defense units had destroyed 48 Ukrainian drones in a period of just over five hours into Saturday evening. Those included five drones in the region surrounding Moscow, two of which were headed for the capital.

The Defense Ministry report said the total included 17 drones over Bryansk Region on the Ukrainian border and 11 in adjacent Oryol Region.

The governor of Belgorod Region on the border said four Ukrainian drones had injured a bus driver and a man driving a car.

An earlier Defense Ministry report said 94 drones had been destroyed over Russia overnight on Saturday and 45 more in just under six hours during the day.

Officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport reported delays in departures after flights were temporarily paused. Civil Aviation Authority Rosaviatsiya said the measures were taken in response to "restrictions" over the capital's airspace as well as strong winds.

Rosaviatsiya said incoming and outgoing flights at airports in several other Russian cities were also temporarily halted, including at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, citing safety concerns.