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By:
Reuters
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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- March 19 2025 09: 32
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Turkey arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday on charges including corruption and aiding a terrorist group, a move his opposition party has criticized as a "coup attempt against the incoming president."
As a leading figure in the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Imamoglu has long been seen as the most formidable rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
His appeal beyond his party's traditional, secular base has propelled him deeper into the national scene, making him a competitive opponent whom the CHP was expected to nominate as its presidential candidate in the upcoming elections.
Wednesday's arrest, along with charges of running a criminal organization, bribery and tender rigging, escalates a political showdown that could shape Turkey's future.
Despite his legal troubles, Imamoglu has vowed to continue fighting.
"I will not give up," he said in a video message on X.
Imamoglu's rise in politics has drawn parallels with Erdogan's trajectory, as both have led Istanbul, and encountered legal barriers that threatened their political futures.
Born in 1971 in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, Imamoglu studied business administration at Istanbul University before entering his family's construction business.
He joined the CHP in 2008 and became mayor of Istanbul's Beylikduzu district in 2014.
In 2019, he handed Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) its biggest defeat in two decades, winning the Istanbul mayoral race not once, but twice.
A court had overturned his initial victory, allowing him to win a repeat election by an even wider margin. And in 2024, he secured reelection despite a fractured opposition alliance.
Imamoglu has described his political battles as a fight for democracy.
"These are more than mayoral elections," he said last year.
Imamoglu has faced legal challenges throughout his career, being sentenced in 2022 to two and a half years in prison for insulting public officials, although an appeals court has yet to rule on the matter.
In another case last year, he was accused of rigging tenders. His supporters see the charges as politically motivated attempts to damage him, a claim that Erdogan and the AKP deny.
The latest charges are the most serious. The Istanbul prosecutor's office has said that 100 people, including journalists and businessmen, are suspected of involvement in corrupt municipal tenders.
In another investigation, Imamoglu and six others are accused of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Adding to the pressure, Istanbul University revoked Imamoglu's degree this week. If the decision is upheld by a court, it could block him from running in the 2028 presidential election.
However, if Erdogan intends to run again, the elections could be held earlier, according to analysts.
His rivalry with Erdogan dates back decades, in a much different setting. In the mid-1990s, after Erdogan had become mayor, he visited a meatball restaurant that Imamoglu ran in the Gungoren neighborhood of Istanbul.
"I waited for him," Imamoglu once recalled. "He ate meatballs at my restaurant. I didn't take his money. He won't pay that bill as long as he lives," he added.
