On September 11th, former mayor of Istanbul and a leading figure in Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) stood trial on charges of forgery. Ekrem İmamoğlu stands accused of falsifying several documents—particularly his university diploma—which Istanbul University invalidated just before his arrest.
If convicted, İmamoğlu could face up to eight years and nine months in prison and be barred from political life, including a run at the presidency.
In addition, İmamoğlu now faces charges of corruption, interference in procurement, and “supporting terrorism” due to the CHP’s cooperation with the pro-Kurdish DEM party during local elections. Other charges allege embezzlement of public funds at cultural events.
At the same time, amid the growing shift towards lawfare, a Turkish court on Thursday rejected the ouster of the Istanbul branch leaders of the country’s main opposition party over alleged irregularities in its leadership congress.
The CHP, which defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party in the 2024 local elections, had vowed to fight the dismissal of its Istanbul branch leadership. However, the party has been facing a growing number of graft investigations since the jailing of Istanbul’s popular former mayor İmamoğlu, seen as the sole candidate with a realistic chance of beating Erdogan at the ballot box.
This latest development could impact the court ruling expected on Monday in Ankara in a separate case aimed at the CHP’s leadership. If successful, the allegations of vote rigging at the CHP’s November 2023 congress could unseat party leader Özgür Özel and several other senior party figures.
