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Istanbul’s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu: What we know

Imamoglu was due to be sworn in as party’s candidate for next presidential election

4 MIN READ

Protesters hold signs and Turkish flags during a rally in support of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday.

AFP

ISTANBUL: On Sunday, a court ordered Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and several dozen co-defendants jailed on charges of “corruption”.

Here’s what we know about this case, which the mayor’s CHP opposition party has denounced as a “political coup” organised by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Who is Ekrem Imamoglu?

Imamoglu was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019 and triumphantly re-elected last year. By winning Turkey’s largest city (nearly 16 million inhabitants) and business centre, the 53-year-old mayor has become Erdogan’s number one opponent.

Erdogan’s biggest rival

Turkish opposition champion Ekrem Imamoglu has become the face of a nationwide protest movement that erupted with his arrest, triggering the worst unrest in over a decade.

Widely seen as the only politician who could defeat Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box, Imamoglu, 53, was catapulted into the headlines this week after his dawn arrest in a graft and “terror” probe.

In just four days, he went from being Istanbul’s popular mayor to being arrested, interrogated then jailed on the day the main opposition CHP held a primary to name him their candidate for the 2028 presidential race.

After his arrest, Imamoglu vowed to fight on and “erase this black stain on our democracy” while the CHP branded it “an attempted coup”.

The party urged people to hit the streets, which they did in their hundreds of thousands in at least 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, defying threats from Erdogan and a protest ban.

“This is an incredibly important popular movement in terms of world political history as well as Turkey’s political history,” said CHP leader Ozgur Ozel.

“Ekrem Imamoglu is currently on his way to prison. But he is also on his way to the presidency.”

“This is nothing short of a coup against the main opposition party, with far-reaching consequences for Turkey’s political trajectory,” said Berk Esen, a political scientist at Istanbul’s Sabanci University.

Hours before his arrest, Istanbul University revoked his degree - a high-stakes move as presidential candidates must have a higher education diploma.

What is he accused of?

The mayor was arrested at dawn on Wednesday for “corruption”, and “supporting a terrorist organisation” due to an electoral agreement between his party and a pro-Kurdish group that authorities accuse of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Ankara.

The pretrial detention order, obtained by AFP on Sunday, states that “Ekrem Imamoglu is being detained for establishing and leading a criminal organisation; accepting bribes; corruption; illegally recording personal data; and rigging tenders.”

The order went on to say that “although there is a strong suspicion of guilt for the crime of supporting an armed terrorist organisation, it is not necessary at this stage” to order his detention on these potential charges “since it has already been decided to imprison him for financial crimes”.

CHP in the crosshairs

Some 90 people were arrested on Wednesday, including two district mayors of Istanbul who were detained for “corruption” and “terrorism.”

Both elected officials are members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), a social-democratic and secular party founded by Mustafa Kemal, the father of the Turkish Republic.

The CHP holds 134 seats in parliament, compared to 272 for Erdogan’s AKP, and in local elections in March 2024 it won 35 of the 81 provincial capitals, eleven more than the AKP. It won in most major cities such as Ankara, the capital, Izmir, Antalya, and the major industrial city of Bursa.

Controversial timing

Imamoglu was due to be sworn in Sunday as his party’s candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028, in a primary in which he is the only candidate.

On Tuesday, just hours before his arrest, the cancellation of his diploma had already placed an obstacle in his path, as the Turkish Constitution requires all presidential candidates to have a higher education degree.

In 2023, Imamoglu had already been barred from running due to a sentence of more than two years in prison for “insulting” members of Turkey’s High Electoral Committee, which he has appealed.

The CHP decided to go ahead with its primary Sunday and called on all Turks, even those not registered with the party, to participate in the hope of turning this election into a referendum.

Biggest protests since 2013

The mayor’s arrest has sparked the country’s largest demonstrations since the Gezi protests of 2013, which began in Istanbul’s Taksim Square over the demolition of a local park.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul on Friday and Saturday evenings, with large demonstrations in provincial cities, in particular in Ankara and Izmir.

In total, rallies took place in at least 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, or more than two-thirds of the country, according to an AFP tally.

Analysts say the protests, mostly led by young people, reflect grievances that extend far beyond Imamoglu’s arrest.

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