Turkey Hundreds of years in prison demanded for Erdogan opponent Imamoglu
Almost eight months after the arrest and dismissal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the public prosecutor's office has demanded up to 2,352 years in prison for the popular opposition politician, according to state broadcaster TRT. The indictment accuses the opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of, among other things, founding and leading a criminal organization as well as bribery and money laundering, according to the Istanbul public prosecutor's office.
11.11.2025, 14:14
SDA
The court's acceptance of the indictment is considered a formality. Imamoglu is a promising challenger to President Erdogan.
The broadcaster CNN Türk reported that the indictment was 3,900 pages long and included a total of 402 suspects. A lawyer for Imamoglu's party told the German Press Agency that the accusations were completely unfounded. He expected an acquittal at the end of the trial.
Largest protests for more than ten years in Turkey
Imamoglu was arrested in March on terror and corruption charges and removed as mayor. He has been in custody ever since. The action against the popular politician triggered the biggest protests in Turkey for more than ten years. Imamoglu himself denies the accusations. Critics see the crackdown as a deliberate attempt by the government to eliminate the strongest opposition party in the country.
The CHP party had surprisingly emerged as the strongest party nationwide in the 2024 local elections - which many interpreted as a possible precursor to replacing President Erdogan's AKP government.
Since then, the secular CHP has been under pressure. So far, hundreds of its members have been arrested and 17 of its mayors have been detained. The government rejects criticism of the crackdown and calls the country's judiciary independent. However, international organizations and the EU Commission are questioning this.
