Prosecutors accuse Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of leading a criminal network, seeking up to 2,325 years in prison on corruption charges.
Prosecutors in Turkey formally charged suspended Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Tuesday, November 11, seeking between 828 and 2,325 years in prison for alleged corruption.
Imamoglu, one of the country’s leading opposition figures, has been in pretrial detention since March and was widely expected to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2028 elections.
According to the indictment, Imamoglu—who has led Istanbul since 2019—allegedly acted for a decade as the “leader of a criminal organization” involved in economic crimes, with 402 suspects implicated.
The charges include bribery, embezzlement, bid rigging, and illegal commissions.
Chief prosecutor Akın Gürlek, who leads the case, said the investigation uncovered a “profit-driven criminal structure” under Imamoglu’s direction. The 3,740-page document claims that the alleged activities caused losses of 160 billion Turkish lira (about €3 billion), $24 million in cash, and 95 properties.
“The organization’s structure has been fully detailed, and Ekrem Imamoglu is its leader,” Gürlek told reporters, calling for a “fast-track trial” to reach a swift conclusion.
The filing also mentions that prosecutors will notify the Court of Cassation about a possible move to dissolve the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition force to which Imamoglu belongs. While no formal request has yet been made, such a move could carry major political consequences.
Among the 402 defendants is Imamoglu’s lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, accused of being part of the organization’s “legal wing.”
CHP leaders have denounced the indictment as politically motivated. Party vice president Gül Çiftçi described it as “a vengeful document with no legal basis,” while lawmaker Bulent Tezcan said it represents “an attempt to purge the opposition through judicial power.”
Opposition figures have long characterized Imamoglu’s arrest as a “judicial coup” intended to remove Erdogan’s most viable challenger.
The indictment immediately rattled markets: the BIST 100 index of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, which had opened with a 0.2% gain, plunged nearly 4% after the charges became public.
Imamoglu remains in pretrial detention at Silivri’s high-security prison outside Istanbul, awaiting the court’s decision on when the trial will begin.
