Who is jailed Turkish opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu? | Politics News

The embattled mayor of Istanbul is the opposition occasion’s candidate for the following presidential election, scheduled to happen in 2028.

The embattled mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been chosen as the opposition Republican Folks’s Celebration (CHP) candidate for the following presidential election, scheduled to happen in 2028.

Imamoglu, who was detained on Wednesday, is broadly seen as the highest challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His arrest has prompted widespread protests, which have been ongoing for a number of days, primarily centred in main cities corresponding to Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

Under is a quick timeline of Imamoglu’s political profession.

Adolescence and training

• Imamoglu was born on June 4, 1970 in Trabzon, northeastern Turkiye.
• He acquired a bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration and a grasp’s diploma in human assets administration from Istanbul College.

Elected mayor of Istanbul

• In 2008, he joined the Republican Folks’s Celebration (CHP), one among Turkiye’s main political events.
• From 2014 to 2019 he served as mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district.
• In 2019, he grew to become mayor of Istanbul, beating the Justice and Improvement Celebration (AK Celebration) candidate. The outcomes had been initially annulled, however he gained in a rerun.
• In 2022, he was sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in jail and was banned from politics for insulting the Election Council through the annulment of the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election. He appealed the ruling and the ban is pending.

College diploma annulment

• On March 18, 2025, Istanbul College annulled Imamoglu’s bachelor’s diploma, citing irregularities with the Council of Larger Schooling rules. This annulment would jeopardise his presidential eligibility, as below Turkish legislation, a candidate should have at the least the next training diploma to be eligible to run for president.

Arrest and protests

• On March 19, 2025, Imamoglu was arrested and charged with corruption, aiding the PKK, and main a legal organisation. This led to widespread protests, that are nonetheless ongoing.

CHP presidential candidate

• On March 24, 2025, Imamoglu was elected because the CHP’s presidential candidate. The subsequent scheduled election is in 2028. However early elections are regarded as possible.