Arrested Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu becomes Turkish presidential candidate
news.online.ua
Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:03:00 +0200
Ekrem Imamoglu becomes Turkeys presidential candidateThe Republican Peoples 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 Peoples 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 Imamoglus arrest would not prevent this, as he has not been convicted.Turkish political analysts see the Istanbul mayor as Erdogans main rival, so Imamoglus arrest a few days before the primaries was seen as an attempt to eliminate his rival.
Largescale protests are spreading across Turkey due to Imamoglus 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 Peoples Party and was considered the main rival of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential election in 2028.However, on March 18, Imamoglus higher education diploma was revoked, allegedly due to technical violations.
Having a diploma is a prerequisite for running in the presidential election.Imamoglu has been elected mayor of Istanbul twice, in 2019 and 2023, defeating candidates from Recep Tayyip Erdogans 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 prosecutors office also said that Imamoglu was allegedly the leader of a criminal group and engaged in extortion, fraud and bribery.
Latest news
more news