The detained opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, described the investigations that began into allegations of corruption in the municipality and his arrest on March 19, 2025, as a “coup” against the popular will, considering that his trial was “political.”
During his plea on the second day in the corruption case in the Istanbul municipality, on Thursday, about 600 days after his arrest, Imamoglu confirmed that his trial was a “political trial,” pointing out that the indictment, consisting of about 4,000 pages, was “empty and devoid of any tangible evidence, and it seemed as if a headline writer, not jurists, had written it.”
He said that “hundreds of dear policemen raided the house at dawn on March 19,” 2025, wondering: “Would I have refrained from coming if they had called me or sent a summons... You (the government) are cowards.” You have betrayed the Turkish nation, democracy, justice and the republic.”
Imamoglu added: “I and my colleagues were detained in a cell in the Istanbul Security Directorate for 4 days. It was a dirty place, excuse me, that smelled of urine and drugs, but they did not arrest any of those involved in the case of embezzlement and manipulation of the people’s money in investment funds that exploded in mid-September. Rather, they asked them to come to give their statements and return to their homes. Because they are from within the ruling (Justice and Development) Party.”
He continued: “After 4 days of staying in that dirty place, they took us to the court, and the roads between the Security Directorate and the court were closed with tens of thousands of policemen everywhere. “We went to court hungry and thirsty.”
He pointed out that “no evidence or a single concrete example has been provided of allegations that cash support and assistance in providing vehicles were provided to mayoral candidates before the Istanbul elections in 2024 from companies that have commercial relations with entities affiliated with the Greater Istanbul Municipality.” On the contrary; We revealed the vehicles allocated and the support provided to (his rival, former Prime Minister) Bin Ali Yildirim, before the 2019 elections, which amounted to 45 million Turkish liras sent from the treasury of the Istanbul mayor to the municipalities affiliated with the (Justice and Development) Party in Istanbul.
Regarding the allegation that he tried to seize the headquarters of the Republican People’s Party, to which he belonged before moving to the “New Party” headed by Ozgur Ozil, he said that “whoever tried to do that is known,” and asked the court to summon the head of the party, temporarily appointed by a judicial decision, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, to testify.
Imamoglu pointed out that since the start of the trial on March 9, he has been labeled as the leader of a “criminal organization,” and that his colleagues are being tried as members of it. “This is a violation of our right not to be defamed, and a violation of the presumption of innocence... and the confessions that were extracted by threat were the price for the freedom of those who were forced to make them.”
He stressed that this issue is a “political issue” that was prepared after he announced his candidacy for the country’s presidential elections, saying: “I do not hold grudges or resentment, but I am doing this for the sake of the nation.” “I will fight as long as I live for my children, for those who chose me with their free will, and for democracy and the Turkish Republic.”
Imamoglu stated that “(humble journalism); (Pro-government) said that I made a presentation during the first session.” He added: “Oh showmen and fundraisers, everything about me is clear. They are the ones who showed off when they sent hundreds of policemen to my door at dawn, thinking that they would harm me... You are harming the people.”
He addressed the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying: “You have forgotten how to practice politics, and you have separated from the people, and you think that you can do anything with money, but this will not work for this nation. “It is the people who will decide at the ballot boxes.”
Imamoglu began his argument on the second day of his defense, Thursday, by offering condolences to the victims of the torrential rains that swept Istanbul, saying that “this disaster cannot be explained by the amount of rain, and it cannot be separated from the residents who settled in valleys between 1994 and 2019, and from the towers built on the banks of the rivers during this period.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994 from the Welfare Party, and after that the municipality remained under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party, until Imamoglu won it for the first time in 2019, beating his rival, former Prime Minister Bin Ali Yildirim.
For days, the city of Istanbul has been witnessing heavy rains that recorded the highest rainfall rate since 1942, amounting to 261 kilograms per square meter, which led to the death of 3 people, the injury of 3 others, and the loss of 4 people, in various parts of the city, and caused disturbances in roads and air traffic.
The governor of Istanbul, Davut Gul, announced the closure of schools on Thursday and Friday, and granted groups of workers in public and private institutions a holiday in order to preserve their safety.
