All You Need To Know About Istanbul’s Jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu

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?

Ekrem 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.

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 the CHP and a pro-Kurdish party the 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, one for “corruption” and the other for “terrorism”.

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

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

Controversial timing

Ekrem Imamoglu was due to be named Sunday as the CHP’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 was not fielded by his party in the presidential race over a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for “insulting” members of Turkey’s High Electoral Committee. His appeal is still pending.

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 

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

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul on Friday and Saturday evenings, with large demonstrations in other cities, notably 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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)