Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu is threatened with another impeachment procedure. After a year-long investigation, the Turkish central government in Ankara claims that among the almost 44,000 employees of the city administration there are 1,668 people with ties to terrorist organizations. As mayor, Imamoğlu is responsible for this. The popular politician is considered a possible candidate for the presidency.
Almost half a year before the presidential and parliamentary elections, he could now be relieved of his post. In this way, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP ruling party would have access to the budget, employees and other resources of the metropolis during the election campaign: Istanbul, with its at least 16 million inhabitants, is considered crucial for the election.
The Erdoğan government’s attempts to instrumentalize the Turkish judiciary for its political purposes and to use court decisions to weaken the opposition are becoming increasingly obvious. Imamoğlu was recently sentenced to two and a half years in prison and a political ban on far-fetched allegations. Although the case is being appealed, it is far from certain that the verdict will be overturned.
“Am I a secret service? Am I the judiciary?”
Imamoğlu, one of the best-known opposition politicians, has dismissed the new allegations against himself as nonsensical and, referring to the possible connections of individual employees of the giant Istanbul authority, asked: “Am I a secret service? Am I the judiciary?” But even with the first court verdict against him, the court had placed little emphasis on the allegations convincing the Turkish public.
The Ministry of the Interior now claims that 1,668 employees of the Istanbul city administration sympathized with various terrorist organizations at the same time. Among them is the militant Kurdish PKK, which is also listed as a terrorist group by the US and the EU. There is also the network of Gülen Islamists. The organization is blamed by Ankara for the failed 2016 military coup. In most countries, however, it is not considered a terrorist group. The head of the Gülen network, Fethullah Gülen, has been living in the United States for years. In addition, some left-wing splinter groups are named by the Ministry of the Interior. Ankara also says nearly 500 city government employees were hired without security clearance.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu’s accusations fit the political picture that Turkey is presenting ahead of the upcoming June 18 elections. The government must fear for its power. Both Erdoğan’s own re-election as president and the minimum number of parliamentary seats that the AKP will need to work in government now appear anything but certain.
Voters are turning their backs on the government
The latest polls show that the electorate is not only turning away from Erdoğan’s conservative Islamic ruling party, the AKP. The president himself is also losing support due to the steady decline in the national currency, the lira, and inflation, which is now almost 100 percent.
The opposition, which is running against the incumbent, has forged a secular-oriented alliance with the “six-table” from very different parties. It promises a return to a parliamentary system of government. The opposition’s greatest weakness is that it has not yet agreed on a common lead candidate for the presidency. Istanbul Mayor Imamoğlu would be a promising candidate. But with the legal double offensive and the impending prison sentence including political ban, he is hardly an option. The top man’s position falls to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the far less attractive leader of the social-democratic CHP party for many non-CHP voters.