TURKISH police arrested Istanbul’s mayor and several other prominent figures yesterday as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. 

The move was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing government crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices by Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

The Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and some 100 other people. Amongst those detained was Mr Imamoglu’s close aide Murat Ongun.