İstanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most prominent political challenger, has said his imprisonment will not prevent him from defeating the Turkish leader in a future presidential election, Turkish Minute reported, citing his interview with Politico.
İmamoğlu is being held at Marmara Prison, a high-security facility on the outskirts of İstanbul, following his arrest last year. In written responses sent to Politico through his lawyers and advisers, he said the case against him was political rather than legal and argued that his detention was aimed at removing him from public life.
“What we are experiencing is not a genuine judicial process but a strategy to besiege politics,” İmamoğlu said, claiming that Erdoğan’s goal was not only to influence the next election but to eliminate his candidacy altogether since he is feared to win in a fair vote.
İmamoğlu’s detention in March 2025 sparked widespread protests across Turkey and drew criticism from international rights groups and foreign governments. Opposition parties have described the case as an attempt to sideline Erdoğan’s strongest rival ahead of future elections.
The 55-year-old politician, who rose to national prominence after defeating Erdoğan’s allies in İstanbul mayoral races three times, faces multiple charges, including corruption, bribery and “political espionage.”
Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences that would amount to more than 2,000 years, according to court documents.
İmamoğlu dismissed the scale of the case as evidence of its weakness, pointing to what he described as years of inspections of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality that produced no findings, a 4,000-page indictment based on contested testimony and an unusually long projected trial timeline.
His arrest came after his main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) made significant gains in the 2024 local elections, dealing a major blow to Erdoğan and his political allies.
Despite being jailed, İmamoğlu was later named the CHP’s presidential candidate in a symbolic primary vote that drew participation from more than 15 million people.
İmamoğlu has continued to communicate with supporters online through his team, though access to some of his social media accounts has been restricted in Turkey. In his remarks to Politico, he acknowledged the constraints of campaigning from prison but said public support extended beyond his party’s base and even included some voters from Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He pointed to a petition demanding his release and early elections that has gathered tens of millions of signatures, describing it as a sign of broad public concern over justice and democratic standards.
Legal obstacles remain significant. Turkish law requires that presidential candidates have a university degree, but authorities have moved to annul İmamoğlu’s diploma from İstanbul University, a decision that is now central to his political future. Another hearing is expected later this month.
Soner Çağaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute and quoted by Politico, said it was unlikely that Erdoğan would allow İmamoğlu to compete in a genuinely free election, given the risks he would pose to the incumbent’s grip on power.
