Early life and education <\/p>\n
\u0130mamo\u011flu was born near Trabzon<\/a> in northeastern Turkey, in the same Black Sea<\/a> region that was home to Erdo\u011fan\u2019s parents. His upbringing was religious, and his father, Hasan \u0130mamo\u011flu, was active in the Motherland Party (MP), which ruled Turkey from 1983 to 1991 and advocated many of the same policies as Erdo\u011fan\u2019s early AKP. His mother, Hava \u0130mamo\u011flu, supported the CHP. In 1988 Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu enrolled at Girne American University (GAU) in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus<\/a> before transferring in 1990 to Istanbul University. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor\u2019s degree<\/a> in business administration and subsequently pursued a master\u2019s degree<\/a> in human resource management at the same university. In March 2025, just before \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s arrest, Istanbul University annulled his bachelor\u2019s degree, saying his transfer there was not valid because GAU\u2019s accreditation<\/a>, which was pending when he transferred, was refused in 1991. A bachelor\u2019s degree is required to run for president in Turkey, and the CHP was just days away from formally making \u0130mamo\u011flu its presidential candidate.<\/p>\n Political career in Istanbul and arrest in 2025 <\/p>\n \u0130mamo\u011flu was largely unknown in Turkey until he ran for mayor of Istanbul<\/a>. After university he had a career in business management and entered local politics in 2009. In 2014 he became mayor of the suburban Beylikd\u00fcz\u00fc district on the European<\/a> side of Istanbul and gained a reputation among its affluent<\/a> residents for his administrative skills. The CHP, which for decades had been struggling to shed an elitist image, chose \u0130mamo\u011flu to run for mayor of Istanbul in 2019. He was an outsider and a fresh face and considered a moderate who could appeal to more-conservative voters.<\/p>\n Mayor of Istanbul<\/a>Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu in his office on April 5, 2024, shortly after winning reelection as mayor of Istanbul.(more)<\/p>\n By running a low-profile campaign free of controversy, at a time when mismanagement by the incumbent AKP was causing the lira<\/a> to plummet, \u0130mamo\u011flu won initially by a razor-thin margin, as did CHP candidates across five of Turkey\u2019s six largest cities. The electoral commission, however, annulled the result in Istanbul, citing irregularities, and called for a new election. The annulment backfired: the controversy brought more attention to \u0130mamo\u011flu, and the rerun election resulted in a much larger margin of victory\u2014from less than 1 percentage point to nearly 10 percentage points. Later that year, during a public dispute with Turkey\u2019s interior minister, \u0130mamo\u011flu referred to \u201cthe people who canceled the March 31 election\u201d as \u201cidiots.\u201d<\/p>\n Reelection rally<\/a>On March 30, 2024, the eve of municipal elections, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu addressing supporters at a campaign rally. \u0130mamo\u011flu’s reelection raised hopes for the opposition that he could successfully challenge Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan in the next presidential election.(more)<\/p>\n In May 2021 prosecutors indicted \u0130mamo\u011flu on charges of insulting election authorities, based on his \u201cidiots\u201d comment from 2019. He was sentenced in December 2022 to two years and seven months in prison and banned from public office. \u0130mamo\u011flu appealed the ruling and remained in politics, winning reelection as mayor in March 2024 while the case was pending. Meanwhile, new charges were brought against him, including in June 2023 for alleged<\/a> tender rigging<\/a> while mayor of the Beylikd\u00fcz\u00fc district and in January 2025 for allegedly attempting to influence the judiciary through public criticism<\/a> of pending cases. Worried about the growing legal challenges facing \u0130mamo\u011flu and other members of the CHP, the party moved in January 2025 to begin the process to select a candidate for the next presidential election\u2014scheduled for 2028 but widely expected to take place earlier to allow Erdo\u011fan<\/a> to sidestep constitutional<\/a> term limits<\/a>. Soon afterward, in February, another indictment was filed against \u0130mamo\u011flu, accusing him of criticizing a public prosecutor in Istanbul.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tQuick Facts<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBorn: \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Show\u00a0more)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 4, 1970, Ak\u00e7aabat, Turkey<\/a> (age 55)<\/p>\n