TURKISH COURT JAILS ISTANBUL MAYOR IMAMOĞLU PENDING TRIAL

Sun 23 March 2025:

A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu on corruption charges pending trial on Sunday. Imamoğlu was taken into custody on Wednesday facing charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group. The court later rejected request by prosecutor’s office for Imamoğlu’s secondary arrest on terror-related charges, thus, paving the way for his Republican People’s Party (CHP) to retain the mayoralty seat.

Prosecutors say Imamoğlu was among the leaders of a criminal network enriching themselves through bribes and rigged public tenders. He and dozens of others are also accused of illegally obtaining personal data. A separate probe also accuses him and several other figures linked to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) as well as Istanbul’s district municipalities of helping the PKK terrorist group by recruiting its sympathizers.

Along with Imamoğlu, the court in Istanbul ordered the arrest of his close aide, Murat Ongun, who served as head of a media company of the IBB, and Tuncay Yılmaz, director of the Imamoğlu family’s construction company. So far, 25 suspects detained earlier this week have been formally arrested, while several others, including businesspeople and a singer, were released with judiciary control, with the court ordering them to report to authorities regularly and banned from traveling abroad. Among those arrested were Resul Emrah Şahan, mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district which is also run by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) like IBB, IBB’s deputy secretary general Mahir Polat and Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, head of Reform Institute who was arrested on “terrorism” part of twin probes into the municipality.

Ten suspects including renowned businesspeople and singer Ercan Saatçi were released pending judiciary control and a travel ban.

Prosecutors say Imamoğlu along with running a criminal network, suspects were also involved in illegally obtaining personal data of Istanbul residents. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul says the evidence, including testimonies of witnesses in an investigation into a notorious “money counting” video of CHP-linked people, implicated Imamoğlu and others. The video, leaked last year, is part of another investigation into allegations that the bags full of cash seen in the video were linked to “vote buying” for the CHP’s incumbent chair, Özel.

Eyewitnesses told investigators that Imamoğlu and others pressured businesspeople via extortion, colluded with certain businesspeople to acquire illicit gains, were involved in money laundering through transactions using intermediaries and used people as “secret coffers” for the transfer of illicit gains.

A total of 100 suspects, including Imamoğlu, Ongun and Yılmaz, have been implicated in charges related to “being a leader of a criminal organization,” “membership in a criminal organization,” “bribery,” “fraud,” “illegal data acquisition” and “tampering with a tender.”

Source: Daily Sabah

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