Turkey's opposition elects interim Istanbul mayor after Imamoglu's jailing

Record ID: 1986052

  • Title: Turkey's opposition elects interim Istanbul mayor after Imamoglu's jailing
  • Date: 26th March 2025
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 26, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISTANBUL MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERS GATHERING TO ELECT INTERIM MAYOR (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL MUNICIPALITY COUNCIL DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, GOKHAN GUMUSDAG, SAYING: "I hope that our Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu will return to office as soon as possible, that today's extraordinary conditions we are experiencing will return to norm
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: CORRUPTION TRIAL EKREM IMAMOGLU ERDOGAN RIVAL INTERIM MAYOR ISTANBUL MAYOR TAYYIP ERDOGAN TURKEY
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001185526032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Istanbul's opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday (March 26) elected an interim mayor to run the city, after mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicised.
    Last week's detention of Imamoglu, the biggest political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, triggered the largest anti-government demonstrations in Turkey in over a decade and led to mass arrests, as hundreds of thousands heeded opposition calls and took to the streets in mostly peaceful protests.
    Istanbul's 314-member council, where the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) holds a majority, elected the party's Nuri Aslan to run the city with 177 votes, according to NTV.
    The interim mayor will run the city for the remainder of Imamoglu's term, as he awaits trial.
    The election of an interim mayor prevents the government from appointing a trustee to run the municipality, as it has done in several other cities, particularly in the mainly Kurdish southeast, amid a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition.
    At the weekend, CHP members voted Imamoglu as the party's presidential candidate, with the next election not due until 2028.
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