ISTANBUL (AP) — As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted NATO leaders in Ankara on Wednesday, his main political rival defended himself against corruption charges in court.Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who represents the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was arrested in March 2025. Hundreds of party members and elected officials have been detained over the past two years in a crackdown critics say is designed to cripple Turkey’s largest opposition group.In a specially built court next to the Silivri prison complex outside Istanbul, Imamoglu protested the judge’s barring him from attending hearings for almost a week over “disruptive behavior,” saying his legal rights had been disregarded.“How can you explain to world leaders at the NATO summit, in Turkey, in Ankara, the silencing of Ekrem Imamoglu?” he asked the presiding judge, according to the opposition-backing Cumhuriyet newspaper.
The CHP selected Imamoglu as the party’s future presidential candidate shortly after his arrest, and he is widely seen as the main challenger to Erdogan’s 23-year rule. In May, the CHP’s leadership was removed by a court order that annulled its 2023 congress.
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The government maintains that Turkey’s judicial system is independent and free of political interference.Wednesday’s hearing was for the largest case Imamoglu faces. It alleges he led a criminal organization as the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality that was involved in widespread corruption. He faces 142 charges, including establishing what the prosecution called the “Imamoglu criminal organization for profit” from 2015, when he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district.
