The leader of Türkiye’s largest opposition party was prosecuted

According to RCO News Agency, the Turkish “Sabah” newspaper reported that the Istanbul Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case against Özgur Ozel, the leader of Turkey’s largest opposition party, the People’s Republican Party (CHP), on the charge of insulting the president and government officials of Türkiye.

The report said on Wednesday that the investigation was launched after Özel gave a speech at a rally in the Emraniye district, where the politician allegedly made “inappropriate remarks” against judicial officials investigating corruption cases in Istanbul’s municipality.

One of the well-known figures of this party is Akram Imamoglu, a member of the People’s Republican Party, who has served as the mayor of Istanbul since 2019 and was re-elected in 2024 with a difference of almost 12% over the candidate of the ruling party, but since March 23, he has been detained in Silivari prison on charges of corruption.

In March, Istanbul University revoked the degrees of Imamoglu and 27 others at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, a move that could bar him from running for president. The prosecutors are demanding nearly 9 years in prison and a ban on political activity for Imamoglu due to a separate document forgery case.

In July, a court sentenced Imamoglu to one year and eight months in prison for threatening the Prosecutor General, Akin Gorlak, and his family. Previously, in December 2022, he was sentenced to two years and seven and a half months in prison for insulting election officials and banned from political activity, although his defense team has appealed the sentence. This political ban will be applied only if it is approved by the Supreme Court of Turkey after the request of the Supreme Election Council of Turkey.

Meanwhile, in late October, a court in Istanbul issued an arrest warrant for Imamoglu on espionage charges related to the 2019 election.

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