A primary nomination vote carried out Sunday (March 23) by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has officially nominated Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu as the party’s presidential candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. İmamoğlu, who was detained on alleged corruption and terrorism charges last Wednesday (March 19), was officially convicted and removed from office Sunday.
Approximately 15 million Turkish citizens cast primary votes for the imprisoned İstanbul mayor in a major show of support following his detention and removal. İmamoğlu’s conviction on corruption charges was announced in the early hours of Sunday morning, after which he was sent to the Silivri Prison on the outskirts of İstanbul. Just hours later, İmamoğlu was anointed as the CHP’s official presidential candidate following a day-long vote.
The CHP organized around 5600 polling stations across Turkey at which citizens cast their votes for the İstanbul mayor, who was the party’s only presidential nominee.
In a statement released from prison, İmamoğlu described the vote as “A slap in the face of those holding power.”
Monday crackdown of journalists, social media
On Monday morning, nine journalists were arrested in raids across Turkey for their reporting on the ongoing protests. Access to a further 700 social media accounts was blocked, including accounts belonging to journalists, lawyers, women’s groups, and student organizations.
A Sunday statement from X, formerly known as Twitter, stated that the platform had rejected numerous requests from Turkish authorities to block access to certain pages.
Trustee appointed to Istanbul’s Şişli municipality
Resul Emrah Şahan, fellow CHP member and mayor of İstanbul’s Şişli municipality, was also detained along with İmamoğlu Wednesday morning on alleged terrorism charges. Şahan was convicted of the charges and imprisoned along with the İstanbul mayor.
On Monday morning Şişli district governor Cevdet Ertürkmen, a government-selected trustee, was officially appointed as Şahan’s replacement. The appointment was announced in a statement by the Turkish Interior Ministry.
Banners at the Şişli municipal building showing pictures of İmamoğlu and Şahan were subsequently removed by crews, and a photo was published showing Ertürkmen in the mayor’s office in front of a newly-installed portrait of President Erdoğan.
İmamoğlu’s replacement is set to be selected Wednesday by the CHP-controlled İstanbul city council. Although convicted on corruption charges, the İstanbul mayor was acquitted on separate terrorism charges. İmamoğlu’s acquittal on these charges means that the appointment of a central government-selected trustee is unlikely for the time being, although many see the retaking of Istanbul as a major goal of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
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