İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, jailed for nearly a year while awaiting trial on corruption charges he denies, challenged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to call early elections and said the president would lose if he ran again, according to responses conveyed to Reuters by İmamoğlu’s legal team.
İmamoğlu, 55, became the main opposition figure in Turkish politics after defeating Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in multiple İstanbul elections, including a rerun vote in 2019 that turned him into a national name. He has been in Marmara Prison west of İstanbul since March, when a court ordered him jailed pending trial.
“We want early elections now,” İmamoğlu said in the written responses. “But the current president sees the coming defeat and shies away from elections,” he added.
A presidential election is scheduled for 2028, but Erdoğan, 71, would need an earlier vote if he wants to run again under Turkey’s term limits unless the constitution is amended. Calling early elections would require support in parliament, including votes beyond Erdoğan’s AKP and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
İmamoğlu’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has pressed for a snap election for months. The party says it would restore rule of law, revive Turkey’s stalled European Union accession process and shift economic policy toward a social-democratic model if it wins power.
The CHP has also tried to keep İmamoğlu in the public eye through weekly rallies in İstanbul and across the country, while opinion polls show a close contest between the CHP and the AKP.
In his responses, İmamoğlu said he has an 18-hour workday in prison, collaborating with lawyers on more than 10 cases and investigations, reading letters from supporters and continuing to fulfill municipal responsibilities. He said he exercises daily in a 24-square-meter courtyard with high walls.
İmamoğlu’s main corruption trial begins next month. Prosecutors have sought a sentence of more than 2,000 years for İmamoğlu on charges tied to allegations that he ran a criminal organization at the İstanbul municipality.
The case is at the center of a broader crackdown on the CHP that rights groups and observers say has damaged the democratic credentials of NATO member and EU candidate Turkey.
İmamoğlu said pressure on the opposition is increasing as the next election approaches. “As the day of their defeat approaches, the government is increasing the level of pressure and hostility directed towards us,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Tensions escalated this week after Erdoğan appointed Akın Gürlek, a prosecutor associated with major cases targeting the CHP including İmamoğlu’s, as Turkey’s justice minister in a cabinet reshuffle. The CHP condemned the move and tried to block Gürlek from taking his oath in parliament, triggering a brawl between opposition lawmakers and AKP members.
Erdoğan accused the CHP of “displaying every kind of violent behavior” in the clash.
A recent court decision invalidating İmamoğlu’s university degree has become another flashpoint because Turkey’s constitution requires a university diploma for presidential candidates. The CHP has contested that decision.
For the CHP, İmamoğlu remains both a symbol and an organizer. Party leaders have treated him as their presidential candidate despite his imprisonment, framing his detention as part of a broader effort to sideline Erdoğan’s strongest challenger.