Istanbul mayor charged with corruption as Turkish opposition weighs Erdogan challenger
The latest move against Ekrem Imamoglu comes as Turkey’s opposition weighs which candidate would stand the best chance against Erdogan.
Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu is facing prosecution over alleged corruption, Turkey's judiciary announced Wednesday, the latest in a series of legal cases aimed at removing him from power, according to opposition officials.
The Turkish ministry of interior has investigated complaints that while he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district from 2014-2019, Imamoglu awarded a public tender to an unqualified company. The case is due to be heard on June 15. Prosecutors are seeking a maximum seven-year prison term for Imamoglu and six co-workers on charges of graft. They also want him banned from politics on the same charges.
In a ruling in December, Imamoglu was already barred from politics and sentenced to nearly three years in prison for criticizing Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Board. The board had ordered a controversial redo of the 2019 municipal elections that favored the main opposition pro-secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) in several key cities, including Istanbul. Imamoglu, 52, won by a landslide in the repeat election, marking the first time an opposition figure handed Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan such a resounding defeat.
Imamoglu remains in office pending an appeal. The big question is whether the court will deliver its final verdict ahead of the elections, which are due by June 18 at the latest.
