Turkish prosecutors initiated a new investigation into Ekrem İmamoğlu, the popular opposition mayor of İstanbul, shortly after he allegedly targeted a court expert whom he said was being “cherry-picked” by the government for trials involving his party.
İmamoğlu claimed that an expert named Satılmış Büyükcanayakın was specially chosen to draft reports against his main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in order to sway the court proceedings in trials involving him and other CHP mayors in İstanbul.
The mayor’s remarks came at a news conference in İstanbul on Monday where he alleged irregularities in the judicial process involving CHP municipalities in İstanbul in the wake of growing pressure on the CHP, which led to the arrest and removal from office of several mayors from the party in past months.
The İstanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into İmamoğlu minutes after the end of his news conference on accusations of “attempting to influence a judicial officer, expert or witness” and “attempting to influence a fair trial” due to his statements, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The theme of the news conference was “the real bombshell,“ a reference to recent remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said, “The real bombshell is still in the bag,” a phrase widely interpreted as a threat of further legal action against opposition figures and İmamoğlu, seen as Erdoğan’s strongest political rival.
Erdoğan made the controversial statement following the arrest of Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat from the CHP in a bid-rigging investigation earlier this month, seen by the party as part of efforts of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to discredit and weaken opposition municipalities.
İmamoğlu claimed that expert witness Büyükcanayakın, whom he described as “the real bombshell,” played a role in the arrest of Akpolat and Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, also from the CHP, jailed on terrorism-related charges in October. He said although there are 1,891 professionals in İstanbul who can give expert opinions in court in cases concerning the municipalities, Büyükcanayakın is constantly selected in files related to him and the other CHP mayors.
“Could it be a coincidence that Mr. Büyükcanayakın is always selected for us among thousands of experts? He is a professional who is comfortable enough to write and make references to things that do not exist. He is sure that nothing will happen to him. He obviously has people he trusts behind him. He was specifically selected,” said İmamoğlu, implying that Büyükcanayakın has the government’s backing.
The mayor called on Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç to take action against irregularities in the investigations and trials, saying the Turkish judiciary is not independent.
Meanwhile, Büyükcanayakın, who spoke to Halk TV’s Barış Pehlivan, denied İmamoğlu’s claims, saying he also provided expert opinions in trials concerning officials from other parties.
“I was not cherry-picked,” he said, adding that he never consults with prosecutors while serving as an expert witness in trials.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office said media outlets that broadcast İmamoğlu’s statements live on Monday were not within the scope of the investigation, but that others that broadcast the mayor’s remarks and repeated his accusations against the expert witness would be investigated, too.
İmamoğlu condemned the launch of an investigation into him, saying prosecutors didn’t even wait for him to finish his speech. He denied the accusations, saying that by revealing the “unlawful interventions” in the judicial process, he is actually defending the independence of the judiciary and not trying to influence a judicial process.
This is the second investigation initiated into the mayor this month. On January 20 another investigation was launched into İmamoğlu on accusations of targeting the city’s chief public prosecutor, who is overseeing the latest probes into the party’s prominent figures.
İmamoğlu is being investigated for allegedly targeting İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek with remarks against him and his family. The mayor is accused of “targeting public officials engaged in the fight against terrorism” and “threatening” the prosecutor, according to a statement from Gürlek’s office.
He will testify to prosecutors as part of this investigation on Friday.
There are claims that Erdoğan wants to sideline İmamoğlu — the mostly likely candidate to challenge Erdoğan if he tries to seek another term as president — with such operations in CHP municipalities.
İmamoğlu’s trial
İmamoğlu, who was fed up with ongoing pressure on the CHP, called on the government to stop efforts to pressure his party if he was the actual target, in a speech on January 15.
The mayor was sentenced to more than two years in prison and barred from politics in December 2022 for allegedly insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK).
The 53-year-old ended the yearslong AKP rule in İstanbul when he defeated the AKP’s mayoral candidate twice in local elections in 2019. He won a rerun election by a larger margin than in the first election, which was canceled due to supposed irregularities.
İmamoğlu was re-elected İstanbul mayor in the March 2024 local elections, again leaving the AKP candidate far behind.
In last year’s local elections, the CHP emerged as the leading party for the first time in 47 years, securing 37.7 percent of the vote, maintaining control of key cities and securing substantial gains in other regions, while the AKP came in second, garnering only 35.4 percent.
The CHP’s election victory led to widespread concerns that Erdoğan might resort to measures that would hinder the operations of the opposition municipalities or discredit them in the eyes of the public in retaliation for his party’s election loss.
Over the past months, CHP municipalities have also been hit by investigations on accusations of irregular spending and unpaid debts to the government.