In Istanbul, thousands of people opposed the conviction of a rival of the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan demonstrated a few months before the presidential election. A court had the popular prefect of the metropolis, Ekrem Imamoğlu, sentenced to more than two years in prison and banned from engaging in political activity. Protesters waved Turkish flags in front of the city administration on Thursday and chanted slogans against Erdogan’s AK party.
“Penalty to Success”
Patriotic music blared from the speakers. Imamoglu himself attributed the verdict to his political achievements. “Sometimes, no success goes unpunished in our country.”
The verdict on Wednesday – some six months before the presidential election – was issued for insulting public officials. CHP politician Imamoglu described election officials as “fools” in Istanbul’s 2019 local elections.
Erdogan’s Most Important Opponent
The decision must be upheld by an appeals court. The mayor of Istanbul is considered the most important opposition candidate in the elections. Officially, there is still no main candidate. The outcome depends on whether the CHP and other opposition parties can agree on a promising common candidate.
Imamoglu narrowly won the local elections in March 2019 against the AKP candidate. Then the vote was declared invalid. Imamoglu won the replay by a wide margin. His victory ended the AKP’s 25-year rule in Turkey’s biggest city of 16 million and was also seen as Erdogan’s defeat. He ruled Turkey with his AKP for two decades. Critics accuse him of an increasingly authoritarian course. Thousands of government opponents are in jail or have lost their jobs. Furthermore, the Turkish judiciary is considered partisan. The government denies the charge.