Imamoglu’s statement about his sentence: “My conviction is a punishment for my success”

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said his prison sentence this week was a punishment for his success, as opposition parties will rally in support of him and challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of next year’s election. year.

A Turkish court yesterday, Wednesday, sentenced Imamoglu to 2 years and 7 months in prison and banned him from political activity. Both sentences will have to be upheld by an appeals court. His conviction drew widespread criticism at home and abroad, with critics saying it constituted an infringement on democracy.

Imamoglu, who is seen as a potential strong rival to Erdogan, called on residents of Turkey’s largest city to show “unity and solidarity” by joining his voice and that of the leaders of six opposition parties at the municipal headquarters on the 4th: 00 pm (15:00 Greek time).

“Sometimes in our country, no success goes unpunished,” he noted. “I consider this senseless and illegal punishment imposed on me as a reward for my success,” he said.

Imamoglu was convicted of insulting public officials in a speech he gave after winning municipal elections in Istanbul in 2019. Critics say Turkish courts are bowing to Erdogan’s will. The government states that the judiciary is independent.

Presidential and parliamentary elections due to run until June are expected to be Erdogan’s biggest political challenge to date after two decades in power, as Turks struggle to cope with rising living costs following the collapse of the Turkish lira and the spike in inflation.

The six-party opposition alliance that has formed against Erdogan, led by Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), has not yet decided who will be its presidential candidate. Imamoglu is seen as a likely candidate and polls have shown him to beat Erdogan.

Imamoglu was on trial for a speech in which he said those who canceled the initial Istanbul mayoral vote in 2019, narrowly won by a candidate from Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), were “idiots.” Imamoglu states that his comment was in response to Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu who had used the same language against him.

After the results of the first ballot in Istanbul’s municipal elections were annulled, Imamoglu won comfortably in a run-off vote, ending 25 years of rule of Turkey’s largest city by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors.

RES-EMP

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.