The mayor of Istanbul was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison. Ekrem Imamoglu, a political opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was convicted of insulting members of the Electoral Council, whom he described as “idiots”.
The judge ruled, for the 52-year-old politician from the opposition Republican People’s Party, that he is no longer allowed to be politically active. Imamoglu is a potential opponent for Erdogan in next year’s presidential elections. It is expected to resume. In this case, he could remain mayor for the time being.
Prosecutors had requested a prison term of up to four years against Imamoglu last May. He admitted that he made criticisms, but according to him, it was a political discussion.
Imamoglu won the 2019 mayoral election in Turkey’s largest city. That was a setback for Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, who was once the mayor of Istanbul. After complaints were made about the irregularities, the Electoral Council decided to rerun the elections. Imamoglu won again.
Then he said that it is bad for Turkey’s international image that the elections must be repeated and that the officials are fools.
