by Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu gather in Istanbul after a court sentenced the mayor to prison and banned him from politics.
Thousands of people in Istanbul protested against the conviction and political ban of the city’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, voicing criticism of the Turkish government ahead of next year’s elections which are expected to be a major test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 20-year rule.
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Erdogan’s popular rival Imamoglu to two years and seven months in prison for insulting public officials.
The ruling and political ban are to be upheld by an appeals court and Imamoglu will continue to serve as mayor of Turkey’s largest city until his appeal is heard.
The verdict sparked widespread criticism at home and abroad.
As patriotic music blared, crowds waved Turkish flags in front of the Istanbul municipality building in the city of 16 million people on Thursday. A large banner with a portrait of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk hung from the building.
Imamoglu, 52, and the leaders of six Turkish opposition parties stood shoulder to shoulder in the crowd of supporters on Wednesday.
“I am absolutely not afraid of their illegitimate verdict,” Imamoglu told the crowd. “I have no judges to protect me, but I have 16 million Istanbulites and our nation behind me.”
He said his prison sentence punished his success.
“Sometimes in our country, no success goes unpunished,” he said. “I see this meaningless and illegal punishment imposed on me as a reward for my success.”
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from the Istanbul rally, said that even if the appeal court upholds the verdict, then Imamoglu can appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court.
“Until the final decision of the Supreme Court, Ekrem Imamoglu has the legal right to remain as mayor of Istanbul and the political ban against him will not be imposed,” Koseoglu said.
“But a lot of people here…are saying that yesterday’s court decision is totally illegal.”
Imamoglu was convicted of insulting public officials in a speech he delivered after winning the 2019 Istanbul election. Critics say Turkish courts bow to Erdogan’s will. The government claims that the judiciary is independent.
The US State Department said it was “deeply disturbed and disappointed” by Imamoglu’s potential removal.
Germany called it “a blow to democracy”, while France urged Turkey to “reverse its departure from the rule of law, democracy and respect for fundamental rights”.
Presidential and parliamentary elections due by June could be Erdogan’s biggest political challenge after two decades in power, as Turks face rising cost of living after currency crash and soaring inflation.
The six-party opposition alliance formed against Erdogan, led by Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), has yet to agree on its own presidential candidate. Imamoglu has been proposed as a possible challenger and polls suggest he would defeat Erdogan.
Imamoglu was tried for a speech in which he said those who canceled the initial 2019 vote – in which he narrowly defeated a candidate from Erdogan’s AK Party – were “crazy”. Imamoglu says his remark was a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for using the same language against him.
After the initial results were nullified, he comfortably won the second ballot, ending the 25-year rule in Turkey’s largest city by the AK Party and its predecessor, the Welfare Party.
