'A coup against people's will': Reactions from Türkiye, world to İstanbul mayor's sentence

İmamoğlu and Akşener addressed thousands of people who gathered outside of the municipality to express support for the mayor. (Photo: AA)

İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's prison sentence with a political ban drew strong criticism from Türkiye's opposition parties, as well as international rights groups.

İmamoğlu was yesterday (December 14) sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in prison for insulting the country's top election officials.

If the verdict is upheld, he will lose his seat as the mayor and will not be able to run for president in the next year's elections. One of the most popular opposition politicians, he has been mooted as a possible joint opposition candidate.

İmamoğlu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), won the mayoral elections in March 2019 and the repeat elections three months later, ending the 25-year rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its predecessors in the city.

The first election, which İmamoğlu had won by less than 1 percent, was annulled at the request of the AKP due to "irregularities." He won the rerun election by nearly 10 percent.

In 2020, İmamoğlu said, "Those who canceled the elections are fools," in response to a statement from the interior minister, who had also called him a "fool." Because of these remarks, a case was filed against him for "insulting public officials" in 2021.

Kılıçdaroğlu: "A coup"

CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu cut short his visit to Germany following the court ruling.

Releasing a video on his Twitter account last night, Kılıçdaroğlu accused the government of "staging a coup" against the people's will.

"I'm promising my nation that we will defeat this miserable, putschist, organized evil," he remarked.

While the hearing was underway, İmamoğlu called on the people to gather outside of the municipality in the Fatih district. Accompanied by Meral Akşener, head of the İYİ (Good) Party, an ally of the CHP, and Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the CHP's İstanbul head, İmamoğlu addressed a crowd of thousands of people.

The case showed that there was no justice in the country, he said. "This is a case directed by those who don't want divine values such as justice and democracy."

Akşener also gave a speech, recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's imprisonment in 1999, when he was the İstanbul mayor.

"There is fear behind this decision," she said. "The fear of you, the fear of democracy, the fear of the nation's will..."

In a live interview on Fox TV this morning, Kılıçdaroğlu said he expects the appeals court to overturn the verdict. "This country has honorable judges. They will say 'stop' to this injustice. This is our expectation."

US State Department: "We are troubled"

A US State Department deputy spokesperson said they were "deeply troubled and disappointed" by the court verdict.

"This unjust sentence is inconsistent with respect for human rights," Vedant Patel said yesterday. "We remain gravely concerned by the continued indictment of civil society, media, political and business leaders in Turkey and their prolonged pretrial detention."

Germany: "A blow to democracy"

In a tweet, Germany's Foreign Ministry said, "Today's verdict against Ekrem İmamoğlu is a heavy blow to democracy, which requires controversial political debate. Particularly in times of an election, freedom of speech is the most important hallmark of a fair contest."

HRW: "An attack on democracy"

Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch, described yesterday's verdict as a "travesty of justice."

"The verdict against Ekrem İmamoğlu is a travesty of justice and an attack on the democratic process, demonstrating that as the 2023 elections approach the government is prepared to misuse courts to sideline or silence key opposition figures.

"The verdict violates not only İmamoğlu's rights but also denies Istanbul's voters their rights when it deprives them of their chosen representative." (VK)