Under the shadow of Istanbul's skyline, a political storm erupted as police escorted Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition figure seen as President Erdogan's most formidable rival, into custody on charges of corruption and alleged ties to the outlawed PKK.
The detention, denounced by his Republican People's Party (CHP) as a judicial coup to derail his presidential ambitions, sent shockwaves through Turkey's fragile economy, with the lira nosediving 12% to an unprecedented 42 against the dollar.
Markets recoiled not just at the legal offensive against a popular leader but at the accelerating erosion of institutional trust in a nation already grappling with inflation and polarized politics.
Imamoglu, poised to become the CHP's official candidate, now confronts a labyrinth of accusations, from bribery to aiding terrorism, amid a widening clampdown that has seen opposition mayors ousted, journalists targeted, and protests swiftly quashed.
His handwritten note, circulating online, vowed resilience against manufactured lies, while supporters defied bans to chant outside police headquarters, their voices echoing calls for accountability.
The government, dismissing claims of political interference, insists the judiciary acts independently, even as critics point to the timing: Imamoglu's detention follows the annulment of his university degree, a move that could bar him from the presidency.
With Erdogan term-limited but unchastened after last year's electoral setbacks, the crisis tests Turkey's democratic façade and its delicate overtures toward Kurdish peace talks, now jeopardized by charges linking Imamoglu's alliance with a pro-Kurdish party to terrorism.
International condemnation swelled, yet Ankara's currency interventions, $10 billion spent propping up the lira, revealed deeper anxieties. For now, it remains to be seen whether the streets' simmering discontent or the ballot box will decide.