Ekrem Imamoglu becomes Turkey's presidential candidate

The Republican People's Party (CHP) primaries attracted 15 million Turkish citizens, nearly a quarter of all registered voters in the country. Of these, 13.2 million expressed support for Imamoglu, who was the only candidate.

The head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel, has called on the incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold early elections and run against Imamoglu for the presidency. He said that Imamoglu's arrest would not prevent this, as he has not been convicted.

Turkish political analysts see the Istanbul mayor as Erdogan's main rival, so Imamoglu's arrest a few days before the primaries was seen as an attempt to eliminate his rival.

Large-scale protests are spreading across Turkey due to Imamoglu's arrest. On the evening of March 23, demonstrators in Ankara chanted that "Turkey is ruled by arbitrariness." Police intervened in the action and arrests began.

Imamoglu is one of the leaders of the opposition Republican People's Party and was considered the main rival of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential election in 2028.

Imamoglu has been elected mayor of Istanbul twice, in 2019 and 2023, defeating candidates from Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling conservative Justice and Development Party. The Turkish president also began his political career as mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s and has repeatedly said: "Whoever owns Istanbul owns all of Turkey."

On March 19, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained in a corruption case. On March 23, a court ruled to keep him in custody until the end of the trial.

Imamoglu is accused of bribery and aiding a terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is banned in Turkey. The Istanbul prosecutor's office also said that Imamoglu was allegedly the "leader of a criminal group" and engaged in extortion, fraud and bribery.