İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s lawyer submitted a petition to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office requesting increased security measures after a call was received by the İstanbul Municipality about armed men plotting to assassinate the mayor, Turkish media reported on Thursday.
According to a report by the Halk TV news website, a person called the municipality’s hotline on Wednesday and said he saw armed men and overheard their discussion about a plot to assassinate the mayor in the Arnavutköy district of İstanbul.
Upon receiving the tip, İmamoğlu’s lawyer wrote a petition to the public prosecutor’s office.
“This tip alleges that the execution of the crime of premeditated murder of our client has begun. The audio recording of the tip is attached to our complaint. After an investigation of the tip, the necessary precautions should immediately be taken. Considering the fact that our client is the mayor of İstanbul and his daily programs are fixed, measures should be taken quickly against these threats,” the petition said, according to Halk TV.
The prosecutor’s office has instructed the police to investigate the incident in question.
The İstanbul Governor’s Office said in an announcement today that the caller was mentally unstable and had a record of false tips.
İmamoğlu secured a victory for the Turkish opposition in 2019 as the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) mayoral candidate for İstanbul, ending 25 years of dominance by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its political predecessors in Turkey’s largest city.
İmamoğlu defeated the ruling party nominee by a narrow margin and briefly became the new İstanbul mayor until the country’s election authority canceled the results on the grounds of alleged irregularities and announced a new election on June 23, which he won by a landslide.
The opposition blames Erdoğan’s one-man rule for Turkey’s woes, including an economic downturn and an erosion of rights and freedoms.
However, the opposition bloc has not yet named a presidential candidate.
While there is growing momentum behind CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, polls have consistently shown he is less popular than İmamoğlu and the mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavaş, another CHP politician.
The İstanbul mayor has publicly supported Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy but has not ruled himself out as a contender.