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Prosecutors have charged Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, with running a criminal organization. The opposition has called the case politically motivated...
A Turkish prosecutor accused the imprisoned mayor of Istanbul of running a criminal organization and demanded that he be sentenced to more than 2,000 years in prison, according to an indictment filed in court on Tuesday.
The indictment accused the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, of bribery and other crimes involving hundreds of other people, which cost the Turkish state billions of dollars.
The charges are a significant escalation in a case that Turkey's opposition has described as a political coup aimed at removing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival from politics.
Imamoglu did not immediately respond to the indictment. He previously denied the corruption charges against him and described them as politically motivated.
"This case is not legal, but entirely political," Ozgur Ozel, the head of Turkey's main opposition party, said on social media after the charges were announced.
He called the case and other legal actions against Imamoglu a “civilian coup” aimed at hindering the opposition’s ability to challenge Erdogan. It was not clear when Imamoglu would be brought to trial.
A rising star in Turkish politics, Imamoglu, 54, was arrested in March, days before he was named the opposition presidential candidate. He has won mayoral elections in Istanbul three times since 2019, each time defeating candidates backed by Erdogan.
Control of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and economic powerhouse, is personal for Mr. Erdogan, who began his political career as the city's mayor in 1994 and served until 1998. His ruling Justice and Development Party had held control of the city until Mr. Imamoglu's first victory.
The indictment filed by Istanbul's chief prosecutor on Tuesday was nearly 4,000 pages long and, in addition to bribery, accused Imamoglu of money laundering, fraud and other criminal offenses. More than 400 other suspects were accused of collaborating in what the prosecutor described as a vast criminal enterprise. The document included an organizational chart with Imamoglu at the top.
The indictment said the organization had squeezed the city “like the arms of an octopus,” a phrase that Mr. Erdogan has also used.
Critics have long accused the president, Turkey's dominant politician for more than two decades, of using Turkey's courts, security services and news media to cement his rule and erode Turkish democracy.
“Who wrote this indictment, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan?” Ali Mahir Basarir, an opposition lawmaker, said in Parliament on Tuesday, adding that democracy was under threat.
Mr. Erdogan's term ends in 2028, and the main opposition Republican People's Party has said Mr. Imamoglu will be its candidate. Erdogan, 71, can legally run only if elections are held early or if the constitution is changed. He has not said whether he intends to run for another term.
Imamoglu has been detained for investigation into corruption allegations. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Turkey in March to protest his arrest.
Since then, the government has arrested hundreds of other opposition officials and activists, including elected mayors, on charges related to the issue.
In addition to Tuesday's indictment, Mr. Imamoglu faces other cases that could bar him from entering politics. And the day before his arrest, Istanbul University revoked his degree, citing irregularities more than three decades ago. Turkey's constitution requires that the president have completed higher education.
The mayor said at the time that he would challenge the university's decision.
"I stand strong," he wrote on social media, adding "I will never bow down." /Adapted from Pamfleti/
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