Ekrem Imamoğlu eyes a second term as mayor of Istanbul, Türkiye's most populated city, but the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is determined to send him off in March's municipal elections.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, the mayor from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) acknowledged his reelection bid will be more difficult than his initial victory five years ago because opposition parties are no longer in an alliance against the AK Party. However, he is confident of defeating a newly named AK Party challenger Murat Kurum, a former government minister.

Last May, the AK Party won the general election together with its allies and secured a majority in parliamentary elections, illustrating the challenge faced by a dispirited opposition in the nationwide municipal elections on March 31.

As part of the fallout, the CHP and other opposition parties, including the nationalist Good Party (IP) and pro-PKK Green Left Party (YSP) (informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party)), have not agreed to field shared candidates in big cities, many of which they won together in 2019.

Imamoğlu said he can win voters from other opposition parties and the AK Party. "The fact is that it will be tougher than the last election," Imamoğlu said at his offices overlooking the Bosporus strait intersecting Istanbul. "Back then, the alliances were in a clearer position."

Imamoğlu's election in 2019 ended the AK Party's nearly two decades of running Istanbul and represented a sharp defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan given he too once served as the city's mayor. Erdoğan said AK Party mayoral candidate Kurum was appointed on Sunday to "bring Istanbul out of the interregnum" of the last five years. Imamoğlu said Kurum's candidature has no impact on his chances as both politicians start their campaigns.

The mayor also said he was "not concerned at all" about a 2.5-year prison sentence and political ban handed down by a court for insulting public officials after his 2019 election win. The court of appeals has not approved the sentence yet.