Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu discontinued: Political shake in Turkey!

Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu discontinued: Political shake in Turkey!

Istanbul, Türkei - Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, was “temporarily” discontinued on March 24, 2025. This decision was made by the Turkish Ministry of the Interior and is related to investigations into corruption, which among other things also supports allegations that he has promoted a terrorist organization. İmamoğlu rejects all allegations and refers to it as defamation. In addition to İmamoğlu, the mayors of the Istanbul municipalities of Beylikdüzü and Sisli were also discontinued; A forced administrator was deployed in Sisli. The Tagesschau reported that investigations against a total of 106 people are underway.

The deposition İmamoğlus is seen as an unprecedented process in Turkey. Since the 2019 local elections, İmamoğlu has been playing a central role in the opposition CHP and is considered a possible presidential candidate for the upcoming elections. The loss of Istanbul to the CHP then illustrated the weakness of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK party. Despite the removal, İmamoğlu won the mayoral election again last year and thus retains its great political importance.

protests against the arrest

After the arrest İmamoğlus, protests occurred in several cities in Türkiye that took place despite a banned demonstration. According to the CHP, up to 300,000 people in Istanbul took part in the demonstrations on Friday alone, a number that could not be verified independently. Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, including 323 on Saturday in Istanbul. The Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya reported on 261 identified accounts on the platform X, which were supposedly raised to criminal offenses and excitement of hatred. At the same time, 37 people were arrested on social media because of their "provocative" contributions.

In the context of the political tensions in Turkey, the deposition İmamoğlus appears as part of a broader legal strategy to silence opposition voices. The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed that the arrest was "extremely worrying", and the German Federal Foreign Office called for a fair procedure for İmamoğlu. According to reports, the CHP plans to appoint a deputy for İmamoğlu and possibly name it as presidential candidates.

reaction of the CHP and political context

The CHP criticizes the dismissal as an attempt by the government to eliminate a serious political rival. In recent years, numerous mayors of the ProKurdische Deme-Parti and the Social Democratic CHP have suffered similar fates by replacing them by government forced administrators. The cooperation between the CHP and the Prokurdish DES party in the past elections is seen as the background for the ongoing investigations and arrests, as this should expand the influence of the banned PKK.

The upcoming presidential elections in Turkey are scheduled for 2028, but could be preferred. İmamoğlus possible presidential candidacy is particularly explosive in this context, since control over Istanbul is central to political power in Turkey.