A Turkish court on Friday sentenced jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu to more than two years in prison for allegedly insulting the former Justice and Development Party (AKP) mayor of İstanbul’s Tuzla district and imposed a potential political ban, the Anka news agency reported.
The prison sentence and the restrictions under Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code are not immediately enforceable. They would take effect only if the conviction is upheld on appeal or otherwise becomes final.
Article 53 restricts a convicted person’s right to hold public office and exercise certain political rights. It is therefore commonly described as a political ban.
The case arose from an exchange at the opening of the Tuzla Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant on October 25, 2022.
Şadi Yazıcı, the then-mayor of Tuzla, delivered a speech criticizing the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, prompting protests from some members of the audience.
İmamoğlu asked the crowd to remain calm and accused Yazıcı of coming to the event to create tension. The case arose from his description of Yazıcı’s conduct as “discourteous” and his remark that “bad words belong to the person who speaks them.”
Prosecutors charged İmamoğlu with publicly insulting a public official. The prosecutor sought a sentence of between three months, 15 days and two years, four months.
İmamoğlu denied insulting Yazıcı, saying his remarks had been taken out of context. His lawyers said he had tried to calm the crowd and that his comments amounted to political criticism.
İmamoğlu had been acquitted twice in the case, first under a simplified trial procedure and again after a full hearing in December 2023. An appeals court later overturned the second acquittal on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial.
Friday’s hearing was held at the Marmara Prison complex in Silivri, west of İstanbul, where İmamoğlu has been jailed since March 2025 in the main İstanbul municipality corruption case.
A court issued a second arrest order for him in October 2025 in a separate political espionage case. He denies the charges and says both cases are politically motivated.
In his defense, İmamoğlu said Friday’s proceeding was his fifth hearing in five days. He said he had faced 12 criminal cases and one administrative case over the past two years, with 19 judges replaced during the proceedings.
“Before I can explain the unlawfulness of one investigation, another one comes along,” he said.
After the verdict, İmamoğlu called the ruling invalid. “Appointed judges cannot decide my fate,” he said as he left the courtroom, telling supporters to keep their spirits high.
İmamoğlu was due to appear in person at a hearing on June 5 but was returned to Silivri before reaching the İstanbul Anadolu Courthouse after officials said the vehicle transporting him had broken down. He instead attended by videoconference and described his treatment as “torture.”
Friday’s ruling adds to several convictions handed down to İmamoğlu in cases arising from his public remarks, although most have not become final.
In December 2022 a court sentenced him to two years, seven months in prison and imposed a political ban for calling members of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) “fools.” İmamoğlu said the remark was directed at then-interior minister Süleyman Soylu, who had used the same word against him. The judgment remains under appeal.
In July 2025 İmamoğlu was sentenced to one year, eight months for allegedly insulting and threatening then-İstanbul chief public prosecutor Akın Gürlek, who is now justice minister, after accusing him of using investigations to intimidate opposition figures.
The court acquitted İmamoğlu of a separate charge of identifying an official involved in counterterrorism operations as a target. That judgment is also subject to appeal.
İmamoğlu was also fined TL 7,080 in 2021 for allegedly insulting Seddar Yavuz, then governor of Ordu province in Turkey’s north, during a dispute at Ordu-Giresun Airport in 2019. The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in December 2025, making it final.
İmamoğlu was detained on March 19, 2025, and arrested four days later on corruption charges in a sweeping investigation into the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He was subsequently suspended as mayor.
Human Rights Watch said in March that the Turkish government was “weaponizing the criminal justice system” to push İmamoğlu out of politics, citing his prolonged pretrial detention and the growing number of cases against him.
İmamoğlu rose to national prominence by ending more than two decades of AKP rule in İstanbul in 2019 and won re-election by a wide margin in March 2024. He was selected as the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate in March 2025.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
