 has announced plans to request permission from the Justice Ministry to visit jailed #İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and several other imprisoned opposition figures.){kind=link}
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has announced plans to request permission from the Justice Ministry to visit jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and several other imprisoned opposition figures, local media reported on Monday.
The party’s press office said in a statement that the request will be submitted on behalf of DEM Party co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, along with Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, the deputy co-chair responsible for local administrations. The statement added that the request includes meetings with multiple detainees being held at Marmara Prison, commonly known as Silivri Prison, on the outskirts of İstanbul.
In addition to İmamoğlu, those named in the application include Ahmet Özer, the mayor of Esenyurt, İstanbul’s most densely populated district, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP); Bekir Kaya, former co-mayor of Van from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the DEM Party’s predecessor; Can Atalay, an MP from the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) who was convicted in what’s known as the Gezi Park trial, concerning anti-government protests in 2013; former HDP deputy Halil Aksoy; and Ahmet Saymadi from the Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP).
DEM Party officials had earlier expressed their intent to visit İmamoğlu following the Eid holiday. The visit is part of a broader political solidarity initiative as opposition parties face increasing pressure in the run-up to possible snap elections.
The recent crackdown on opposition figures has intensified since the arrest of İmamoğlu, a leading challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential race. İmamoğlu was detained on March 19 and later arrested on corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated. The investigation has expanded to include 47 municipal officials and the opposition figures, with 30 arrests reported in İstanbul and Adana. Critics see the sweeping probe as an attempt to weaken the opposition and consolidate power ahead of a potential snap election.