A mayoral tenure in Istanbul, possible political ban and incarceration and a football career cut short: Ekrem Imamoğlu apparently follows in the footsteps of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan while his party weighs what to do if he is banned from politics in an ongoing trial.
Imamoğlu enjoys his second term as mayor of Türkiye’s most populated city after an election victory in March, but several lawsuits remain on his path to further political power.
Reportedly considered a Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate for the 2028 presidential elections, the 53-year-old politician, who also happens to hail from the Black Sea region where Erdoğan traces its roots, is now waiting for the verdict of an appeals court in an insult case. Imamoğlu is accused of insulting members of an election board during a 2019 speech about a repeat of the mayoral election that year, which pitted him against the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) candidate. In 2022, he was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and slapped with a political ban by an Istanbul court. The case was brought before an appeals court, which is expected to issue a verdict to uphold or overturn the ruling in the coming months.
The mayor also faces a lawsuit over corruption allegations regarding his tenure as mayor of the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul in 2015. Prosecutors ask for up to seven years in prison for Imamoğlu in that trial.
Top CHP officials held a meeting earlier this week over a potential political ban for Imamoğlu, while the party’s chair, Özgür Özel, who Imamoğlu staunchly supported in the party chair election last November, was absent, away on a U.S. trip. The party adopted an intimidating rhetoric over a possible ban for Imamoğlu, with its deputy chair, Gökhan Zeybek, telling reporters that such a decision would hurt "the Turkish economy and democracy." Gül Çiftçi, another deputy chair, has told reporters after the meeting on Imamoğlu that they discussed what such a ban could "cost Türkiye." Imamoğlu himself had threatened earlier that the nation would stand up against it. "They will send you home," he said in remarks in an interview earlier this month, in a stark warning to the government.
Even if the higher court upholds the political ban on Imamoğlu, the mayor can still take the case of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which has the final say. The CHP is known for its tradition of shielding people facing bans or prison terms by offering them a seat in their candidate list in legislative elections, granting them immunity. Political pundits say the party can nominate Imamoğlu for presidency to offer him a similar protection though it is unclear whether this will provide him immunity. Given the long period until the next election, this option may be ruled out, though the CHP has lately started pressing on for early elections. Gökhan Günaydın, deputy group chair of the CHP in the Parliament, told a pro-party media outlet that a verdict against Imamoğlu would lead to the mobilization of the CHP and a nationwide campaign of support for the mayor. "We will also force an early election," Günaydın was quoted as saying by the Sözcü newspaper.
If Imamoğlu drops out of the presidential race, the CHP will consider nominating Mansur Yavaş, mayor of the capital of Ankara, and a favorite name for Özel. Imamoğlu recently criticized Yavaş after an argument at a CHP convention, though he did not openly name him, while Yavaş dismissed claims of intraparty friction over potential presidential candidates.