Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who retook the top post in the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in May, may anger and cheer up Ekrem Imamoğlu at the same time. Opposing a narrative that the former Istanbul mayor was arrested to curb his political rise, Kılıçdaroğlu said Imamoğlu is not "a political prisoner."
"I also voted for his (future) presidential candidacy, but we have to separate the trials he faced from the presidential candidacy," he was quoted by Euronews on Tuesday.
Imamoğlu was arrested last year on corruption charges, about two years after he campaigned to oust Kılıçdaroğlu from the CHP’s top post. Özgür Özel succeeded Kılıçdaroğlu in a November 2023 election, but a court ruled that the election should be nullified amid allegations that Özel’s associates in the CHP bribed delegates to vote for him. Özel left his post in May but vowed to appeal the court ruling, only to change his mind two months later and go on to establish New Party (YP) with fellow CHP lawmakers.
In the interview, Kılıçdaroğlu also said that his party may ally with the YP in the next election. The veteran politician, who was branded a “traitor” by YP supporters after he was reinstated to his post by a court ruling, told Euronews that they were open to supporting the YP’s presidential candidate, Imamoğlu, if he is eligible to run in the next election.
"Twenty-four hours is a very long time in politics," Kılıçdaroğlu said, quoting former President Süleyman Demirel. "Political relations should be based on the country's interests. Politics have no room for hostility," he said, on the possibility of an alliance with the YP, whose members fiercely resisted Kılıçdaroğlu's return to CHP chairpersonship.
Kılıçdaroğlu returned to the CHP with a promise to “clean up” the party of “corruption,” and in the following months, the party parted ways with mayors and others indicted in corruption investigations. Imamoğlu soon joined them. Kılıçdaroğlu said the arrest of Imamoğlu was “not right" but his presidential candidacy should not be linked to the trials against him.
Imamoğlu faces thousands of years in prison for allegedly running a criminal gang that thrived on bribery and corruption at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), while Özel has claimed that he was jailed to prevent his future candidacy in the 2028 elections. Imamoğlu is currently ineligible to run for office because his university diploma was annulled on charges of forgery.
The CHP leader said people accused of corruption should be able to defend themselves and “account for every penny they are accused of stealing.”
