Status: 12/14/2022 06:31 a.m
A trial in Istanbul could result in Mayor Imamoglu losing his position. That would suit President Erdogan. It’s a common insult in court.
Ekrem Imamoglu gave the Turkish president and head of the AKP party one of his biggest defeats in 2019. Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself was not up for election in the mayoral elections of the metropolis of Istanbul, but Erdogan’s loyal former Prime Minister and AKP man Binali Yildirim was.
On election night, before all the votes were counted, Yildirim claimed he had won. After the count, Imamoglu was ahead with almost 14,000 votes. Nevertheless, the High Electoral Council, dominated by the AKP, canceled the ballot and called new elections.
The people of Istanbul acknowledged the undemocratic behavior in the second election with a lead of around 800,000 votes for Imamoglu. Yildirim and Erdogan accepted the result tight-lipped.
The prosecutor wants a political ban
Imamoglu, a member of the opposition party CHP, is now on trial in Istanbul for insulting public officials. A verdict could come on Wednesday. In November, the prosecutor asked for a prison sentence of four years and one month and a ban on politics.
According to the indictment, Imamoglu called the members of the High Electoral Council idiots after the 2019 annulment.
Two don’t give each other anything
The insult had a prelude. Imamoglu complained about the cancellation at a Council of Europe congress. At a police event in Ankara, the Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Söylu then called him an idiot.
A television journalist asks Imamoglu in front of the camera what he thinks of Söylus’ statement. Imamoglu replies that the idiots are the ones who canceled the ballot.
Turkish politics – more often tangible
Things get rough in Turkish politics on a regular basis. Insults are not uncommon. Just last week there was another fight in Parliament.
A deputy from Erdogan’s AKP hit a deputy from the opposition Iyi party in the face so hard that he had to be temporarily admitted to intensive care.
Apparently, the public prosecutor’s office has not yet investigated the MP for dangerous bodily harm. One reason could be that he enjoys immunity as a member of parliament, which will certainly not be lifted by the governing alliance of the AKP and the far-right party MHP.
The Turkish public prosecutor, on the other hand, acted quickly when the opposition mayor responded to the insult to the Minister of the Interior with an insult to the High Electoral Council.
Nervous about the 2023 election?
Observers are assuming a politically motivated process that also has something to do with the presidential elections that are expected to take place next May. Alongside CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and the mayor of the city of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, Imamoglu is considered a possible opposition candidate for the upcoming elections.
Since Imamoglu Erdogan’s AKP has already missed a defeat, his candidacy in the presidential palace is likely to cause particular unrest.
The judge pushes the pace
Imamoglu’s lawyer Kemal Polat wanted to call more witnesses on the last day of the trial in November. The judge refused. According to the lawyer, the judge did not want to hear the defense attorney’s plea either.
When Polat demanded that the judge be dismissed for partiality, that too was rejected. The judge argued that the attorney’s strategy was to prolong the trial. Polat, on the other hand, assumes that the court wants to come to a quick decision.
If the court finds Imamoglu guilty, his lawyer plans to appeal. An appointment procedure usually lasts a further two years. However, the next higher court could significantly speed up the process.
What happens if Imamoglu has to resign from office?
If Imamoglu’s sentence were upheld by an appeals court before the presidential election, he would be dropped as a candidate and would have to resign as mayor.
Although the AKP did not win the election of the mayor in 2019, it still has the majority in the city parliament. Consequently, if Imamoglu leaves, she could make an AKP man the mayor.
Istanbul’s importance for the election
Istanbul, with at least 16 million residents and many high-revenue businesses, is the country’s most important source of municipal taxes and other revenues. Money that would give the AKP plenty of opportunities to endear itself to voters ahead of next year’s presidential election.
CHP MP and lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu suspects that Erdogan and his camp want a ban on politics because the AKP lost Istanbul and fears losing everything without Istanbul. After all, Erdogan himself was mayor of Istanbul before the Turks elected him head of government.