{"id":36175,"date":"2026-03-09T14:57:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/36175\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T14:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:57:40","slug":"one-year-after-imamoglus-arrest-turkeys-opposition-faces-uncertainty-as-trial-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/36175\/","title":{"rendered":"One year after \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s arrest, Turkey\u2019s opposition faces uncertainty as trial begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One year after \u0130stanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu was jailed, Turkey\u2019s main opposition is entering a new phase of uncertainty as the politician widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s strongest challenger goes on trial in a mass corruption case, Agence France-Presse reported.<\/p>\n

The first hearing is scheduled for Monday at the Silivri courthouse on the western outskirts of \u0130stanbul. Prosecutors are seeking a total of 2,430 years in prison for \u0130mamo\u011flu, accusing him of leading a criminal network tied to alleged corruption in the \u0130stanbul Metropolitan Municipality.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu, 54, was arrested in March 2025 on the same day the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) formally named him as its presidential candidate, in a move critics said was aimed at removing him from politics before the next election.<\/p>\n

Analysts say the case makes it even less likely that \u0130mamo\u011flu will be able to run in the next presidential race. Even if he is acquitted in the corruption trial, he also faces a separate legal threat over the validity of his university diploma, which is required under Turkey\u2019s constitution for presidential candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s chances of coming back to politics before a presidential election are zero,\u201d Halil Karaveli, a senior fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, told Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the very unlikely case he would be acquitted in this trial, you still have the problem that his university diploma could be revoked, which of course disqualifies him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s detention marked a turning point in a broader crackdown on the CHP that intensified after the party defeated Erdo\u011fan\u2019s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the March 2024 local elections and retained control of major cities including \u0130stanbul and Ankara.<\/p>\n

Since then, a number of CHP mayors and municipal officials have faced investigations, arrests and prison sentences. According to the report, 15 CHP mayors are now behind bars.<\/p>\n

Senior CHP official Burhanettin Bulut said the government had responded to the opposition\u2019s local election victory by using the courts to weaken elected officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our municipalities have been subjected to unlawful political operations, and our elected mayors and colleagues have been imprisoned, disregarding the will of the people,\u201d Bulut told AFP.<\/p>\n

He said the March 9 hearing involving \u0130mamo\u011flu and 407 other defendants would be a major test for Turkey\u2019s democracy and judicial system.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, this is not just about defending a mayor, but about upholding the voters\u2019 will and protecting the rule of law,\u201d Bulut said.<\/p>\n

The CHP plans to set up a tent outside the Silivri courthouse in a show of solidarity during the opening of the trial. The courthouse is situated next to the prison complex where \u0130mamo\u011flu has been held for nearly a year.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch has described the prosecution as politically motivated. In a statement Benjamin Ward, the group\u2019s deputy Europe and Central Asia director, said the case raised serious concerns about judicial independence and due process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trial of Mayor \u0130mamo\u011flu follows more than a year of weaponizing the criminal justice system against his party and other CHP elected officials while he sits in jail,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to avoid the conclusion that prosecutors are trying to remove \u0130mamo\u011flu from politics and discredit his party in ways that undermine democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CHP has continued to publicly back \u0130mamo\u011flu as its candidate, but party officials have also signaled that they would rally behind another name if legal barriers make his candidacy impossible.<\/p>\n

Bulut said the party would act with unity if circumstances forced it to choose someone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould any legal or political obstacles arise, we will act with a common mind, embracing the broadest segments of society and determining the name that will garner the strongest support from the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Political observers say CHP Chairman \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel would be the likely alternative if \u0130mamo\u011flu is barred from running.<\/p>\n

Karaveli said \u00d6zel had emerged as a stronger public figure over the past year and could become the party\u2019s natural choice in that scenario.<\/p>\n

The most widely discussed political scenario in Ankara is an early election in the fall of 2027, which could open a path for Erdo\u011fan to seek another term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One year after \u0130stanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu was jailed, Turkey\u2019s main opposition is entering a new phase of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[20955,20956,20957,20958,20959,17279,1181,20960,429,314,430,131,132,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-36175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-2028-presidential-elections","9":"tag-benjamin-ward","10":"tag-burhanettin-bulut","11":"tag-chp-leader-ozgur-ozel","12":"tag-halil-karaveli","13":"tag-ibb-trial","14":"tag-istanbul-mayor-ekrem-imamoglu","15":"tag-marmara-prison-complex","16":"tag-oppression","17":"tag-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan","18":"tag-republican-peoples-party-chp","19":"tag-stockholm","20":"tag-sweden","21":"tag-turkey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116199807088977725","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}