Istanbul [Turkey], November 12: Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a prison sentence of up to 2,352 years for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, nearly eight months after the opposition politician was arrested and suspended from office, public broadcaster TNT reported.
The Istanbul public prosecutor's office accuses of terrorism and corruption, among other charges, according to the indictment, which is 3,900 pages long and covers a total of 402 suspects, the broadcaster CNN Türk reported. Acceptance of the indictment is considered a formality.
Imamoglu was arrested in March and has been in custody ever since.
The action against the popular politician sparked the largest protests in Turkey in more than 10 years.
A lawyer for Imamoglu's party told DPA that the allegations are completely unfounded, and that he expected to be acquitted in court.
The indictment states, for example, that Imamoglu attempted to gain control of the Republican People's Party or CHP in order to generate money for his nomination in a presidential election.
Imamoglu is seen as a leading challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party or AKP.
In 2024, the CHP party surprisingly emerged from the local elections as the strongest force nationwide.
For the first time in its history, the AKP came in second in a nationwide election - which many interpreted as a possible precursor to replacing Erdogan's AKP government.
The next presidential elections are scheduled to take place in 2028.
Imamoglu's election as mayor of Istanbul in 2019 is considered a power-political shock for Erdogan's government. At the time, Imamoglu became the most important opposition figure and the new hope of the secular and moderate electorate.
Critics see the legal action against Imamoglu as a deliberate attempt by the government to eliminate the strongest opposition party in the country.
After the charges were announced, the CHP's Istanbul chairman, Özgür Celik, wrote on X that the real motive was to prevent Imamoglu from running for president.
Since then, the secular-oriented CHP has come under pressure. So far, hundreds of its members have been arrested and 17 of its mayors detained.
Source: Qatar Tribune
