Senior officials from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe have condemned the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, calling it an act of political pressure ahead of Turkey's upcoming presidential elections.
Marc Cools, President of the Congress, along with Congress rapporteurs David Eray of Switzerland and Bryony Rudkin of the United Kingdom, issued a statement denouncing the detention.
“We strongly condemn the arrest of the democratically elected Mayor of İstanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, which bears all the hallmarks of the pressure on a political figure considered as one of the main candidates in forthcoming presidential elections – especially as it took place a few days before Mayor Imamoglu’s CHP party should decide on its presidential candidate, and follows the decision of Istanbul University to revoke Mayor Imamoglu’s degree, which is one of the conditions for presidential candidates," reads the statement.
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“In three separate elections, the citizens of Istanbul have unequivocally placed their trust in Mayor Imamoglu, and these pressures can only be seen as running counter to the will of the people.
“We will continue to follow closely the situation and will raise the issue at the meeting of the Congress Bureau on Monday 24 March, when the Bureau should decide on the proposal to hold an urgent debate focusing on the dismissal of mayors in Türkiye during next week’s Congress session in Strasbourg.”Congress of Local and Regional Authorities." (VK)