Who is Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed mayor challenging Turkey’s Erdogan

The 54-year-old mayor, representing the secular CHP, rose to national prominence in 2019 when he won Istanbul’s mayoral race, defeating Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). After election authorities annulled his victory due to alleged irregularities, he ran again and won by an even larger margin, ending 25 years of conservative rule in Turkey’s largest city.

Why was Imamoglu arrested

Authorities arrested Imamoglu on March 19, charging him with corruption and terrorism-related offenses. While they later dropped the terrorism accusations, he remains in pre-trial detention. Imamoglu has denied the charges he faces as “unimaginable accusations and slanders.” “We will rip away this coup, this dark stain on our democracy, all together,” he said.

The court said Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation, one of two opened against the two-term mayor last week. It said he was arrested for “establishing and leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, embezzlement, unlawfully recording personal data, and rigging public tenders in connection with a financial investigation”.

The jailing capped months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures and the removal of other elected officials from office, in what critics called a government attempt to hurt their election prospects.

Six of the CHP’s 27 municipal mayors in greater Istanbul are now under arrest – a year after municipal elections in which opposition parties handed Erdogan’s AK Party its worst ever electoral defeat.

Imamoglu’s  arrest has triggered Turkey’s largest wave of opposition protests since the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations, with thousands rallying across the country despite heavy police crackdowns.

According to Deutsche Welle (DW), critics see the move as a politically motivated attempt to eliminate Erdogan’s most formidable rival ahead of the presidential elections. Imamoglu’s continued detention has intensified unrest and deepened concerns over the erosion of democratic institutions in Turkey.

From business to politics

Born in 1970 in Trabzon, Imamoglu studied business administration before managing his family’s construction company and running a successful Istanbul restaurant specializing in kofte (Turkish meatballs). He also served on the board of the Trabzonspor football club.

His political career started in local government, and by 2014, he won the mayoral seat in Beylikdüzü, a middle-class district of Istanbul. His 2019 victory in Istanbul’s mayoral election against AKP marked a major political shift, proving that opposition candidates could still succeed in Turkey’s elections. Imamoglu solidified his position in 2024 by defeating Erdogan’s candidate, Murat Kurum, by nearly 10 percentage points.

Controversies and criticism

Despite his popularity, Imamoglu has faced criticism. He remained on vacation during a 2019 flood in Istanbul and took a ski trip after a deadly earthquake in 2020. However, he defended his actions, arguing that brief personal time should not overshadow his leadership.

(With inputs from Deutsche Welle and Reuters)