The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu on charges of corruption on Sunday ended speculation that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) would be appointed a trustee, at least for now.
The main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), will be able to elect a new mayor in the municipality where it held the majority thanks to Imamoğlu’s back-to-back victories since 2019 although a court may reverse that decision. Imamoğlu was also detained on charges of aiding terrorist group PKK, but the Istanbul court, which ordered his arrest on corruption, ruled that a separate arrest was not needed on charges of aiding terrorism at this point. Prosecutors objected to the ruling and an appeals process is pending.
Under Turkish laws, trustees are appointed to replace mayors convicted or placed in pre-trial detention on charges of terrorism-related crimes. If Imamoğlu is convicted of aiding terrorism, it may still cost the CHP the IBB seat. This has been commonplace, especially in the southeastern and eastern Türkiye, where mayors of a pro-PKK party were often replaced with state-appointed trustees, mostly governors or deputy governors.
The CHP already lost three mayors in Istanbul districts since the 2024 municipal elections after corruption and terrorism probes. Ahmet Özer, CHP mayor for Esenyurt, was arrested for links to the PKK and a trustee was appointed to his office. Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat and Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Köseler were detained on charges of corruption in January and February, respectively. A municipal assembly member from the CHP replaced Akpolat as acting mayor. Resul Emrah Şahan, mayor of Şişli district, who was detained along with Imamoğlu on Wednesday, was arrested on terror-linked charges and will likely be replaced with a trustee, while the arrest verdict was issued for Mehmet Murat Çalık, mayor of the Beylikdüzü district who was detained on corruption charges in the same probe.
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