The removed mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu, who received a new charge - for political espionage - and was imposed another measure of “detention“ by the court, responded to the accusation with a comment on his Facebook profile, BTA writes.
““Nothing is true and everything is possible“. That is exactly the place they have turned my beautiful country into. "Even the accusation that I set Rome on fire is more real than this nonsense," said Imamoglu, who has been in prison since March 2025 awaiting trial on several separate corruption charges and was convicted in July of insulting and threatening the Istanbul chief prosecutor.
The indictment against him after the latest investigation states that Imamoglu participated in collecting bribes that were intended to finance his presidential campaign, as well as in espionage against securing international support.
In his post on the social network, Ekrem Imamoglu said that from now on the battle "with reason, which is trying to ruin the future of the nation" will be even greater. He called on people not to lose hope and assured them that with courage, determination and steadfastness they will win. In his Facebook post, Imamoglu also recalled one of the slogans that supporters of Turkey's largest opposition party - the Republican People's Party, to which he belongs - chant during rallies - "We cannot save ourselves individually. Either all together or no one!".
Hundreds of members and mayors of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), of which Imamoglu is a member, are facing charges related to corruption and illegal activities. The party describes the trials against CHP members as "political" and "anti-democratic" and accuses the Turkish government of trying to remove Imamoglu from the presidential race.