Explained: Thousands protest in Turkey over Istanbul mayor's conviction, political ban

Thousands of people took to the streets in Turkey’s most populous city in protest after its Mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, was convicted on Wednesday. The opposition party candidate was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison by a court in Istanbul. This comes ahead of the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections in June 2023.

Ekrem Imamoglu’s rise to power

Elected in 2019, Imamoglu is a candidate from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). The 52-year-old politician’s win marked a historic blow to the president’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party)as it witnessedone of the biggest losses since it first came into power in 2002.

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The election in which Imamoglu won was also a turning point because the defeat marked the second loss of the AK Party in three months after they had called for a rerun after citing irregularities, ending the ruling party's and its predecessor Welfare Party’s more than 25-year rule over the city.

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Notably, Erdogan had also first risen to prominence after becoming the mayor of Istanbul in 1994 after which he continued to remain in power since 2003 first as a prime minister and then as apresident in 2014. However, ahead of the upcoming elections, different polls have shown that his approval ratings have plunged, which has been attributed to the economic turmoil, high cost of living and inflation being more than 84 per cent.

On the other hand, reports suggest that the incumbent president’s ratings have somewhat recovered after the Russian invasion of Ukraine which could pose a challenge to its six-party alliance opposition.

Why was he convicted?

An Istanbul court has sentenced Imamoglu to two years and seven months in prison for insulting the members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council. Reportedly, during a speech he gave in2019, he told the media that “those who cancelled March 31 elections are fools”. The election in question was the one in which Imamoglu had narrowly defeated AK Party candidate andformer Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Subsequently, his victory was cancelled following allegations of irregularities by the ruling party, in May, by the Turkish Higher Electoral Board. However, after the rerun in June, later that year, he won in a landslide with more than 800,000 votes. After his win, he had given a speech in which he made the aforementioned remarks and was later tried for defamation.

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However, the incumbent Istanbul mayor has argued that his remarks were made in response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu who had used the same language against him and not as an insult to the country’s electoral council. Soylu while referring to Imamoglu’s visit to European Parliament, had said, “I am saying this to the fool going and complaining about Turkey to the European Parliament.”

Notably, neither politician mentioned the other by name and nor did the Istanbul mayor mention the country’s electoral council. During the trial, the court also heard from Imamoglu’s press officer, Murat Ongun, who confirmed that his remarks were in reference to Soylu’s accusation that the mayor had insulted the country in the European parliament.

“Either before or after this event, or even on May 6 (2019), when the elections were canceled, I did not hear any negative words from Ekrem Imamoglu concerning the members,” reported the T24 Turkishnews website quoting Ongun. However, Soylu has since taken to social media and asserted that was not the case and Imamoglu’s comments were directed toward the members of the Supreme Electoral Council.

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Furthermore, Soylu's allegations refer to the speech Imamoglu gave to the Council of Europe Local and Regional Authorities on October 30, 2019, criticising the government’s decision to cancel elections and not the European Parliament, said a statement by Human Rights Watch. Meanwhile, the Istanbul mayor’s legal team has decided to appeal his conviction. Meanwhile, a jail sentence or political ban will need to be upheld in the appeals court.

The political ban could also lead the mayor of the most populous city in the country to be ousted from office and even potentially bar him from running in the upcoming elections. Additionally, since the case will go to the appeals court it could extend the outcome of the case until next year’s election.

Notably, Imamoglu may not actually go to prison since people who are sentenced to less than four years are rarely put behind bars in Turkey and may also continue his tenure as Istanbul’s mayor while his case is being appealed in the courts. However, media reports suggest that the prosecutor has challenged the verdict and sought a longer sentence for Imamoglu.

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Widespread protests in Istanbul

So far, thousands of Imamoglu supporters on Wednesday and Thursday gathered outside Istanbul municipal building in protest and denounced the verdict.Leaders of the alliance of six opposition parties and Imamoglu joined the thousands of protesters, as patriotic music was played with many waving the Turkish flag.

The crowd was also reportedly chanting, “Rights, law, justice...The day will come when the AKP is called to account,” while a banner showing a huge portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founder whose secular principles Erdogan's opponents and critics say are under threat, was unfurled at the municipal building.

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“I am absolutely not afraid of their illegitimate verdict…I don’t have judges to protect me, but I have 16 million Istanbulites and our nation behind me,” said the city’s mayor while addressing the crowd gathered. He added, “You beat them two times already and you'll do it again…We will change this order in the election next year.”

A day prior, hundreds had taken to the streets demanding that Erdogan's government resign after the mayor was convicted. Imamoglu reportedly addressed the crowd standing on top of a bus and called the verdict unlawful and proof that “there is no justice in today’s Turkey”. However, the country’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, said that the ruling had nothing to do with politics and asserted the independence of the country’s judiciary.

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The upcoming elections are crucial since they could prove to be one of the biggest challenges for Erdogan’s over two decades in power, his fall in ratingshas predominantly been attributed to the economy. Earlier this week, the lira also fell against the dollar marking a record low. Meanwhile, polls have also indicated that Imamoglu has the potential to unseat Erdogan, in the upcoming election, should he be nominated as a candidate by the opposition alliance.

How have other countries reacted to the verdict?

The backlash due to the verdict has not been limited to Turkey’s people as it has also garnered international criticism from several countries and rights organisations. The European Union spokesperson Peter Stano called the sentence “disproportionate” and said that this incident confirms the systemic lack of independence of the judiciary as well as the “undue political pressure on judges and prosecutors” in the country.

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Meanwhile, the US State Department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, said that they are “deeply troubled and disappointed” after the verdict and called it “unjust and inconsistent” with human rights, fundamental freedoms and rule of law. In a statement, the New York-based rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch, said that the verdict against the mayor is a “travesty of justice”.

They also said that it is an “attack on the democratic process, demonstrating that as the 2023 elections approach the government is prepared to misuse courts to sideline or silence key opposition figures,” which violates not only Imamoglu’s rights but voters in Istanbul by depriving them of their elected representative.

(With inputs from agencies)

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