Jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival and the opposition’s presidential candidate, appeared in three separate court proceedings at a prison complex outside İstanbul on Monday as NATO leaders began arriving in Ankara for a summit hosted by Turkey.
İmamoğlu, who has been held in pretrial detention since March 2025, appeared in a case over his university diploma, a political espionage case and the main İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial involving 414 defendants, 59 of them jailed.
A court in the diploma case adjourned the proceedings until December 25 after İmamoğlu delivered a defense against charges of forging official documents.
Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of two years, six months to eight years, nine months in prison and a political ban in the diploma case.
The case carries political stakes because Turkey requires presidential candidates to have a university degree.
İmamoğlu, the mayor of Turkey’s largest city and the candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), linked the timing of the hearings to the NATO summit during his defense.
He said he was being tried on the day NATO countries came to Ankara and accused Erdoğan of using the courts to remove an elected rival from politics.
The espionage case also continued Monday before the İstanbul 25th High Criminal Court.
İmamoğlu, journalist Merdan Yanardağ, political adviser Necati Özkan and Hüseyin Gün are being tried while in custody on charges of obtaining confidential information for the purpose of political or military espionage.
The four deny the accusations.
In the main İstanbul municipality case, the court lifted a ban that had prevented İmamoğlu and his lawyers from attending the hearing.
The case, heard by the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court at the Marmara Prison complex in İstanbul, accuses İmamoğlu of founding and leading a criminal organization.
Prosecutors accuse him of responsibility for 142 alleged acts and seek a sentence of 828 to 2,352 years in prison.
The indictment claims the organization began operating when İmamoğlu was mayor of Beylikdüzü, a district on İstanbul’s European side, and later used the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality to gain control of the CHP and make himself a presidential candidate.
İmamoğlu denies the charges and calls the case an attempt to block him from challenging Erdoğan.
The hearings coincided with preparations for the NATO summit scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Ankara, where heads of state and government from the alliance’s 32 members and partner countries are expected to gather.
NATO says the summit will focus on defense investment, industrial production and continued support for Ukraine.
The timing drew attention from European officials and political groups, who pointed to the contrast between Ankara’s role as host of a NATO summit and the prosecution of Erdoğan’s main political rival.
Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, said on X that he attended one of İmamoğlu’s hearings inside what he called “infamous Silivri,” using the previous name of the Marmara Prison Complex, which houses many political prisoners, and was struck by the mayor’s “strength and resilience.”
Attended today one of @ekrem_imamoglu's hearings inside infamous Silivri. Deeply impressed by his strength & resilience. He preferred to use the courtroom to lay out his political vision for a democratic #Türkiye addressing 🇹🇷 people instead of the judge.https://t.co/pvCasmswCK
— Nacho Sánchez Amor (@NachoSAmor) July 6, 2026
Sánchez Amor said İmamoğlu used the courtroom to present his political vision for a democratic Turkey, addressing the Turkish people rather than the judge.
The European Democrats, a centrist European political party whose MEPs sit with Renew Europe, also criticized the three hearings in one day, calling them part of a growing crackdown that has targeted political rivals, journalists and comedians.
Today, three trials in one day for @ekrem_imamoglu : diploma, Istanbul Municipality, “espionage”. @RTErdogan is no longer running a government; he is running a panic room with flags. First political rivals, then journalists, now even comedians. At this rate, the next indictment… pic.twitter.com/RWeoSX2ndZ
— European Democrats (@democrats_eu) July 6, 2026
“Strong leaders win arguments. Weak ones send court summons,” the group said on X, adding that Turkey’s democracy “deserves better.”
Eurocities, the Pact of Free Cities and the B40 Balkan Cities Network said in a joint statement that İmamoğlu had been held for more than 15 months without a conviction and faced the burden of appearing before three courts on a single day.
The groups also called for Turkish authorities to lift what they described as an unexplained July 9 deadline to conclude proceedings in the main case.
European Parliament Turkey rapporteur Sánchez Amor and French and German consular officials attended the Silivri proceedings.
The hearings came as rights groups accused Turkish authorities of using summit security as a pretext to restrict dissent in the capital.
Turkish courts have jailed more than 200 people in Ankara ahead of the summit, and police detained more than 100 Monday morning, while authorities imposed bans on demonstrations and public gatherings.
Reuters reported last week that NATO allies were not expected to publicly criticize the crackdown on Turkey’s opposition during the summit, citing Western and Turkish diplomats involved in planning the event.