I was elected mayor of Istanbul, but I write this from jail: Turkish democracy is under grave threat | Ekrem Imamoglu

"Last year, I was reelected mayor of Istanbul with 51% of the vote. It was the second time I had defeated the government-backed candidate. The first was in 2019 when the mayoral elections were annulled on flimsy pretexts; voters returned to the polls and handed us a victory by an even larger margin. But this year, democracy in Turkey has entered its most perilous phase."

"The process started in March on the eve of my nomination as the presidential candidate of the CHP, the century-old Republican People's party. This was when my university degree was abruptly annulled. Why is this relevant? Because, under the Turkish constitution, one must have a university degree to be able to run for president. Soon after, I was accused of corruption and aiding a terrorist organisation. For six months, I have been behind bars, arrested on politically motivated corruption charges based on anonymous witnesses."

The mayor of Istanbul won reelection with 51% of the vote after previously defeating a government-backed candidate and overcoming a 2019 annulled election that resulted in a larger victory. Democratic institutions in Turkey are experiencing severe erosion as legal and administrative measures have been used to block and punish opposition figures. The candidate's university degree was annulled, invalidating presidential eligibility, and accusations of corruption and aiding a terrorist organisation led to six months of imprisonment based on anonymous testimony. More than a dozen opposition mayors and hundreds of journalists, academics, businesspeople and students have been detained, and a quarter of Istanbul's districts have lost elected leaders.

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