Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the CHP, said that 14,850,000 people voted for Imamoglu in their primary as presidential candidate. “We demand early elections. That’s the field and we are here. We also ask the AKP to nominate their candidate,” Ozel told a crowd in Istanbul, calling on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to agree on early polls.
“Today, we overflowed the ballot boxes and the squares with millions. We will not stop until we take out President Ekrem and make him the President!” Ozel said on X.
Imamoglu was sacked from his position on Sunday following a court order on corruption charges. He is seen as the main rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming 2028 presidential race.
His arrest comes days after he was detained as part of an extensive investigation into a criminal organization. Prosecutors say that 99 suspects, including Imamgolu, were involved in bribery, extortion, fraud, unlawful data acquisition, and tender rigging, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
In a statement Imamoglu delivered in court that was relayed by Anadolu, the Istanbul mayor dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and part of a broader “conspiracy” by prosecutors. “Every page they write is garbage,” he said, slamming the alleged terrorism links as “offensive.”
As the CHP moved ahead with a primary to nominate Imamoglu as its candidate against Erdogan, it opened the polls to everyone, not just party members, as it sought to bolster support for their arrested mayor.
Imamoglu’s detention sparked protests in Istanbul and many other Turkish provinces, with supporters of the sacked mayor clashing with riot police.
In a statement, France's foreign ministry condemned the sacking of Imamoglu as “a serious attack on democracy” and expressed concern, calling on Ankara to safeguard the “rights of elected opposition representatives, freedom of demonstration, and freedom of expression.”
