Turkey seeks more than 2,000 years jail for Istanbul mayor

Ugur Yilmaz, Bloomberg News on Nov 11, 2025

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A Turkish prosecutor has requested a prison sentence of more than 2,000 years for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a corruption case, raising the prospect that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongest challenger will be barred from the next presidential election.

The 3,900-page indictment names 402 suspects and describes Imamoglu, the opposition’s most prominent figure, as “the founder and leader of a criminal organization.” The charges include giving and accepting bribes.

Turkey’s stocks slumped on the news, with the benchmark index in Istanbul dropping 3.1% as of 3:41 p.m. local time. It was headed for its biggest full-day loss since early September.

Imamoglu risks cumulative sentences ranging from 828 years to 2,352 years. He earlier denied wrongdoing, calling the case a “transparent attempt” to prevent him from running for president.

His arrest in March has drawn criticism from international rights groups and democracy watchdogs, and led to a market meltdown which forced authorities to spend more than $50 billion from central bank reserves to defend the lira.

Imamoglu rose to national prominence after defeating Erdogan’s AK Party in Istanbul in 2019, marking the president’s first major electoral loss in more than two decades. Since then, he has become the face of the opposition and the target of multiple court cases.

The mayor’s legal troubles intensified after Istanbul University retroactively annulled his diploma in March, stripping him of the qualifications required to run for president. In August, he said he would consider endorsing another candidate if barred from the race, signaling he was settling in for a prolonged legal battle.

Opposition parties and municipalities have also faced scrutiny, with hundreds of officials detained in corruption probes following the opposition’s gains in the 2024 local elections.