A duel of words broke out between the Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu over the course of the week. İmamoğlu spoke out against the Interior Ministry’s behind-the-scenes investigation on the alleged terrorism ties of certain municipality employees at Wednesday’s press confrence. He called Soylu out to substantiate his dubious allegations.
‘’If the indictment includes the former Mayor Mevlüt Ünsal, the Governor of Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya as well as their staff, then I have no objections. However, if the charges arbitrarily single me and my staff out, we are going to bring the sky down on them.’’
Soylu attempted to discredit İmamoğlu’s protests against the legality of the investigation by accusing the mayor of double standard.
”Those who are trying the recover the ground that they lost in their own party by attacking us or by misleading the public are doing so in vain. I am talking about İmamoğlu. He called me, paid me his respects and told me that he is not liked within the CHP headquarters and asked for my help. I told him I could do whatever the law mandates,” said Soylu.
‘’We have already done our security background checks on 920 employees, and they came out clean.”
The minister ignored İmamoğlu’s open challenge that his predecessors should also be investigated upon such charges:
“To say ‘my predecessors have also hired them, so I followed the suit’ is farcical at best’,” Soylu said.
Ekrem İmamoğlu did not hold back after Soylu’s remarks. He held an ad hoc press conference and questioned Soylu’s track record on political loyalty and candor to step out of Erdoğan’s shadow.
‘’I’ve never asked for favors. I’ve never sold out my family. I don’t expect someone who had abandoned his party on a moment’s notice and swerved a hundred eighty degrees overnight to appreciate what loyalty means. I’ve never seen such state of panic on the part of the ruling party yielding dishonesty on this scale before. These are the new lows for all of us. I’ve met with him only once, and we have discussed transportation issues concerning [Istanbul’s] islands. We could only resolve the issue after he received Erdoğan’s consent over the phone.’’
Reiterating that he only phoned the minister of interior twice, İmamoğlu continued:
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‘’The first time was when he tried to push my co-workers around, and I put him in his place. And the second time was when he called me about granting a governor access to the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI). I refused to indulge him because of his unabating misleading remarks and accusations. I constantly speak to cabinet ministers on the phone. The entire cabinet knows I show them utmost respect when it is reciprocated. Soylu should verify this with his colleagues. I’ve responded to him in the way he understands. My advice to him: Pack your stuff and go home. Quit while you still can.‘’
Imamoğlu continued his rebuttal against Soylu’s allegations on Twitter and demanded that he corroborate them.
Bakan Soylu “Saygılarımla” diyerek kendisini aradığımı ve yardım istediğimi söylemiş. Bu kuyruklu bir YALAN! İstihbarat sende, telefon takibi sende, tüm bilgilere erişme gücün var. Bunu ispat edersen ben, edemezsen sen istifa etmelisin. HODRİ MEYDAN @RTErdogan
— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) December 28, 2022
”Minister Soylu said that I had called him for help and I paid him my respects This is a tailed LIE! You have the intelligence apparatus at your disposal, you have the power to access all the information. If you can prove it, I will resign, if you cannot prove it, you should resign. BRING IT ON!
@RTErdogan”
