Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose arrest in March sparked nationwide protests, denies all charges against him.
Published October 27, 2025
A Turkish court has handed new charges against opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose arrest in March sparked massive anti-government protests.
Monday’s move by prosecutors against the jailed Istanbul mayor stems from an investigation launched last week into his alleged ties to a businessman who was arrested in July on charges of conducting intelligence activities on behalf of a foreign government.
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The accusations are part of what Imammoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) calls a long-term crackdown on the opposition.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government rejects the accusations, saying Turkiye’s judiciary is independent and that the charges and investigations are based squarely on the opposition’s involvement in corruption and other illegal activities.
Imamoglu was arrested on corruption charges in March, sparking nationwide protests, and in July was sentenced to prison for insulting and threatening Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.
State news agency Anadolu reported that İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s main political opponent, is suspected of transferring, among other things, personal information of Istanbul residents as part of efforts to secure international funding for presidential campaigning.
Imamoğlu has denied all charges in court and on social media.
“Such slander, lies and conspiracies will not even cross the devil’s mind!” he wrote to X. “We are faced with a shameful obscenity that cannot be explained in words.”
İmamoğlu’s former campaign manager Necati Özcan was also indicted, along with Meldan Yanardag, the editor-in-chief of TV news channel Tele1.
The channel, which is critical of the government, was seized by the state on Friday on suspicion of spying.
wave of arrests
Hundreds of Imammoğlu’s supporters rallied outside Istanbul’s central court on Sunday as he was questioned by prosecutors. It was the first time in seven months that he left Marmara prison on the outskirts of Istanbul.
Critics see his detention and subsequent additional charges as part of a broader crackdown on opposition forces that made significant gains in last year’s local elections.
CHP mayors and local government officials have faced a wave of arrests on corruption-related charges throughout the year.
President Erdogan denies allegations of political interference in the judiciary.
On Friday, a Turkish government court rejected a bid to remove Ozgur Ozer as CHP leader in a case centered on allegations of vote-buying and procedural irregularities at the party’s 2023 congress.
