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| Ekrem Imamoglu in his office and in the background Kemal Ataturk |
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, to more than two years in prison and banned him from political activities on charges of insulting public officials. The decision is expected to be sent to the Court of Appeal.
This development comes just six months before the scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections. Mr. Imamoglu is seen as a strong candidate against President Erdogan. However, the Turkish opposition has not yet officially determined its presidential candidate.
Mr. Imamoglu, from the Republican People's Party (CHP), was tried for a speech given after the 2019 local elections in Istanbul, during which he said that those who canceled the election results were "fools". The charge carried a maximum sentence of four years.
Mr. Imamoglu narrowly won the elections for the mayor of Istanbul, elections that were held in March 2019. He defeated the candidate of the ruling AK Party of Mr. Erdogan. After the annulment of the results that led to the repetition of the electoral process, he won with a more convincing result. His victory ended 25 years of control of Turkey's largest city by Mr Erdogan's party and its Islamist predecessors.
The outcome of the 2023 election will depend on the ability of the opposition CHP party and other opposition political forces to unite around a single candidate, aiming to challenge President Erdogan and the AKP, which governs Turkey for two decades in a row.