LAWYER FOR İMAMOĞLU RELEASED UNDER JUDICIAL CONTROL
Nusret Yılmaz, one of the attorneys representing jailed Istanbul Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and his wife, Dilek İmamoğlu, has been released under judicial control measures.
Analysis
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İMAMOĞLU: MY DETENTION IS BIGGEST SABOTAGE AGAINST PROCESS
Jailed Istanbul Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu said his arrest was designed to undermine the government’s “Terror-Free Turkey” initiative, which foresees the PKK’s disarmament.
INTERVIEW BETWEEN CELLMATES IN SILIVRI
Journalist Fatih Altaylı, imprisoned in Silivri, conducted an interview through lawyers with CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is also held in the same prison in a different cell.The interview's high point was when İmamoğlu disclosed that he has been learning Kurdish.
CHP’S RELENTLESS RALLIES FAIL TO SWAY CORRUPTION PROBE
Since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention on March 19, the CHP has held 40 rallies despite no upcoming elections, yet failed to shift the political agenda. The party opened İmamoğlu’s first campaign office in its Çankaya stronghold in Ankara, only to see its provincial chair dismissed days later. Though operations against Istanbul Municipality slowed, confessions from businessperson Aziz İhsan Aktaş continue to dominate headlines. A fresh wave of arrests targeted subsidiaries ISFALT and IETT, as well as tender officials.
TRUSTEE AT İMAMOĞLU FAMILY FIRM ALSO IN OVER 20 SEIZED COMPANIES
Enis Güçlü Şirin, the trustee appointed to İmamoğlu İnşaat—the family business of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—holds positions on the boards of more than 20 other companies. All the firms where Şirin serves are under the administration of Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) which operates firms that have been seized by the state often because of bankruptcy, tax debts, or links to the Gülenist movement.
SYMBOL OF FEAR RETURNS
One of the prosecutors overseeing the case against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has come under fire after CHP Chair Özgür Özel revealed that the prosecutor displays a model of a Beyaz Toros—a car widely associated with disappearances and state violence in the 1990s. İmamoğlu, who has been held at Silivri Prison since his March 19 arrest, recounted the incident during an interview with journalist Ruşen Çakır of Medyascope as he visited the Istanbul Mayor in prison. İmamoğlu said the prosecutor, who took his testimony following the sweeping police operation, placed a symbolic image of the white Renault Toros on his desk and ended the interrogation by saying: “Tomorrow you become president, then you judge us.”
MEHMET MURAT ÇALIK: FROM BEYLİKDÜZÜ TO PRISON WITH İMAMOĞLU
The paths of Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mehmet Murat Çalık first crossed in 2014. İmamoğlu had just been elected mayor of Beylikdüzü. Çalık began working with him as deputy mayor. In 2019, when İmamoğlu became Mayor of Istanbul, Çalık was elected mayor of Beylikdüzü in the same elections.
İMAMOĞLU CLEARED OF ‘TARGETING’; RECEIVES PRISON SENTENCE FOR ‘THREAT’ AND ‘INSULT’
Jailed Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was acquitted of charges of “targeting public officials involved in counterterrorism” but was convicted of “publicly insulting a public official due to his duty” and “making threats” in the case concerning Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. The court sentenced İmamoğlu to one year and five months in prison for the insult charge and an additional two months and 15 days for the threat charge, totaling one year and eight months. If upheld by the appeals court, the ruling could result in a political ban.
TRT COULD BROADCAST LIVE İMAMOĞLU’S TRIAL
The possibility the trial of imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu could be televised by state broadcaster TRT has sparked rare agreement among political rivals. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan endorsed MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli’s call for the hearings to be aired live. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç also weighed in, saying that Parliament can act on the matter if there is consensus.
AFTER ISTANBUL, IT IS IZMIR'S TURN
A new front has been opened in the judicial assault on the main opposition CHP, shifting the focus from Istanbul to the party’s stronghold in Izmir. The latest set of raids came as Izmir fought off forest fires and as the CHP prepared to hold a major rally in Saraçhane—home to Istanbul's Municipality—marking the 100th day of Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s pre-trial detention. They also followed hard on the heels of a court hearing that could have annulled the party’s 2023 congress.
TURKEY HOSTS NATO FOREIGN MINISTERS AMID POLITICAL TURMOIL
The informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which will take place in Antalya on May 14, will put the international spotlight on Turkey as it will be the first meeting attended by Western leaders after the arrest of the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 23.
TURKEY HOSTS NATO FOREIGN MINISTERS AMID POLITICAL TURMOIL
The informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which will take place in Antalya on May 14, will put the international spotlight on Turkey as it will be the first meeting attended by Western leaders after the arrest of the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 23.