The mayor arrested from Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, can be presidential candidate even from jail, said Özgür Özel, leader of the Social Democratic Republican Party of the People (CHP), the main opposition formation of Türkiye.
Özel declared to the newspaper Sözcü that the CHP will defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential elections – prevented by 2028, but whose immediate celebration demands the opposition – on behalf of Imamoglu, regardless of who the official candidate is.
In any case, the CHP leader insisted that, for the moment, “there is no alternative to Imamoglu.” Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and considered Erdogan’s main political rival, remains in prison since March 19 accused of corruption and links with terrorism, positions that he rejects as manufactured.
The ‘coincidences’ that accompanied their arrest
A day before their arrest, the Turkish authorities annulled for administrative irregularities their university degree in business administration and management, obtained 35 years ago. Having a university degree is an indispensable requirement to compete for the presidency of the country and the CHP has resorted to that decision in court.
If justice returns its university degree, “there will be no obstacle to be a candidate. Imamoglu is our candidate to be detained or on the street. If he remains imprisoned, he will read books from his cell and we will win the election in his name,” Özel told that newspaper.
Asked about the possible designation of another candidate, including a possible candidacy of Dilek Imamoglu, wife of the mayor detained, Özel insisted that Imamogl still is the only option of the party.
Özel announced a national campaign to collect signatures that demand the release of the mayor and the immediate call for early elections, when the date scheduled for presidential ones is 2028.
A support beyond the party: 15 million Turkish citizens and 1.7 million militants
“The 15 million citizens and the 1.75 million CHP members who chose Imamoglu as a presidential candidate will launch a massive campaign just after the holiday (for Ramadan). The goal is to obtain as many firms as votes achieved Erdogan in the past elections (27.7 million),” Özel explained. According to the CHP, 15 million people participated in the primary process to elect the presidential candidate in a symbolic act of supporting Imamoglu last Sunday.
The Directorate of Social Democratic formation unanimously ratified the decision of the primaries to designate Imamoglu as a candidate. The opposition leader also said that after Ramadan, which concludes in early April, demonstrations such as Ankara, Esmirna, Antalya, Mersin, Adana, Trabzon and Bursa will be convened.
In the local elections of March 31, 2024, the CHP consolidated itself as the first political force of the country, with almost 38% of the votes, exceeding the ruling party of justice and development (AKP) of President Erdogan for the first time. Imamoglu also exceeds popularity in various surveys to Erdogan, who launched his political career from the Mayor’s Office of Istanbul.
