He was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019, and had announced his candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections. But Ekrem İmamoğlu is now behind bars, and his trial, on charges including fraud and organised crime, could take 12 years
By Kaya Genç – This piece first appeared in the Dial
For decades, Silivri was considered a “sayfiye yeri”, a place for cottages, country and summer houses. All around the complex are small family-run farms and villas with private pools, protected by watchdogs. Construction of the Marmara Prison complex began in 2005 and lasted three years. It contains eight closed correctional institutions and an open prison where the court is located. It is Europe’s largest prison complex.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the former mayor of Istanbul, is now Silivri’s most famous resident. He was detained on 19 March 2025, went on trial on 9 March 2026, and the case is expected to continue until early next year; no one I spoke to believes he will be acquitted.
İmamoğlu is Erdoğan’s greatest potential rival. In 2024, he won the Istanbul local elections handily, with just over 51%. On 18 March 2025, three weeks after İmamoğlu announced his candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections, Istanbul University annulled his college diploma, making him ineligible to run for political office in the country. The following morning, hundreds of police officers surrounded the mayoral residence. He has been accused of 142 offences, including leading a criminal organisation, accepting bribes, unlawfully obtaining personal data, aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party, racketeering, interfering with public tenders and numerous other financial crimes that could lead to 2,430 years behind bars. In total, 104 other city officials were arrested. Yılmaz Tunç, Turkey’s justice minister at the time, denied that the government was putting pressure on the courts to prosecute İmamoğlu. Akın Gürlek, the prosecutor who indicted İmamoğlu, has since replaced Tunç as the new justice minister.
İmamoğlu’s true crime it seemed was to have ended Erdoğan’s 25-year hold on Istanbul, which began when he was elected its mayor in 1994. Since then, Istanbul had seen only mayors from his AKP party and its forebears, the Welfare and Virtue parties. İmamoğlu’s victory, in 2019, marked a departure, handing the city over to the CHP, the main opposition party. He is a former football player who was the popular district mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü municipality, where he built his brand as a hardworking progressive. His charisma allowed him to talk to pious and secular voters alike. Many Istanbulites shorten his name to “İmam”. His initiatives to combat child malnutrition and improve public transportation and public services solidified his social democratic credentials. İmamoğlu’s triumph led to street parties that continued until the next morning.
İmamoğlu’s trial began on 9 March this year. More than 400 defendants are being tried in the case; 68 of them are currently detained. After reviewing the 3,739-page indictment, submitted by Istanbul’s lead prosecutor on 11 November 2025, the court said it aimed to complete the case in under 4,600 days – roughly 12 and a half years – though they now appear to be speeding through it. Furkan Karabay, a journalist who covers the case and recently published a memoir about the 201 days he spent in Silivri prison for his reporting, told me he expected İmamoğlu to testify in mid-summer. The court case’s length will probably prevent İmamoğlu from running for office in the 2028 elections….
+++++++++++++++
Femicides: 2000 Turkish women killed by men since Erdogan left Womens Rights Convention
Nabil Salih: An Iraqi in the capital of the US Empire / Tom Engelhardt: A Nation Unmade by War
Protests in Iran at death of Kurdish woman after arrest by morality police
The Amini effect: The impact of a single life and the importance of accountability
After the truth-shower 