A Turkish court has accepted an indictment seeking up to 2,430 years in prison for İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on charges that he led an alleged criminal organization embedded in the city government, paving the way for a high-stakes trial of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief rival.
According to Turkish media, the 40th High Criminal Court in İstanbul reviewed and accepted the indictment of 402 suspects, 105 of whom are in pretrial detention, including İmamoğlu, in a sweeping case targeting the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. A date for the first hearing has not yet been set.
The 3,739-page indictment, submitted to the court on November 11, accuses İmamoğlu of being the “founder and leader” of what prosecutors describe as a criminal network entrenched in municipal structures.
Prosecutors are seeking İmamoglu’s conviction for 142 alleged acts. The indictment lists multiple counts of bribery, laundering criminal proceeds, fraud against public institutions, obstructing communications, damaging public property, concealing evidence, violating data protection laws, spreading misleading information, extortion, bid-rigging and offenses under environmental, tax, forestry and mining legislation.
Authorities claim the group İmamoğlu is accused of leading inflicted losses of about 160 billion Turkish lira ($24 million) on public finances through its activities, including alleged schemes involving city-owned companies and tenders.
İmamoglu has denied all accusations. His Republican People’s Party (CHP) says the investigation and mass arrests are politically motivated and aimed at removing him from the race for the presidency.
CHP chairman Özgür Özel condemned the document, saying it amounted not to a legal filing but to a political intervention. He said the text was “not an indictment but a memorandum directed at politics by coup plotters,” framing the case as an attack on democratic competition rather than a corruption probe.
İmamoglu was detained on March 19 in İstanbul and arrested on March 23. On the same day, the CHP held an internal primary and selected him as its presidential candidate, solidifying his position as the main opposition challenger before he was taken into custody.
The indictment also includes wide-ranging allegations involving the CHP. Prosecutors claim the party unlawfully used personal data for political purposes but indicated that this is not, at this stage, a formal request to close the party, although the chief prosecutor has the authority to seek a closure case at the Constitutional Court.
The CHP’s İstanbul provincial headquarters building is also cited in the document. Prosecutors allege it was bought with the proceeds of criminal activity and are asking the court to order its seizure.
The case also extends to prominent journalists. Citing the statement of a secret witness, the indictment claims journalists Ruşen Çakır, Yavuz Oğhan, Şaban Sevinç and Soner Yalçın were paid by the alleged network. It says Murat Ongun, an adviser to İmamoğlu and chair of Medya AŞ, the İstanbul municipality’s media company, who is in pretrial detention — arranged payments to the journalists through another suspect, Emrah Bağdatlı.
All four journalists have strongly denied the accusations in their statements to authorities, saying they never received money from Ongun or his associates. They insist their work and social media posts were based solely on their professional judgment and reporting and reject any suggestion that they engaged in paid propaganda.
The case, with its combination of sweeping corruption allegations, claims of party-level wrongdoing and the targeting of a leading opposition figure, is expected to further inflame political tensions in Turkey as the country heads toward a new electoral cycle.
