TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed former mayor of Istanbul and potential rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has secured the opposition partys presidential nomination for the 2028 election, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) announced on Sunday.
- Other Media news -CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel said nearly 15 million people voted in the partys primaries in support of Imamoglus candidacy, despite his arrest earlier this week, RT reported.
The number of votes Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu received from our members and the solidarity ballot box is over 14.8 million, Ozel said at a rally in Istanbul.
The vote came just hours after Imamoglu was formally arrested and suspended from office. He was detained on Wednesday in a sweeping corruption probe and now faces charges of extortion, bribery, and alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey designates a terrorist group. Imamoglu has denied all wrongdoing.
The CHP has denounced Imamoglus arrest as a coup attempt, alleging that the charges are aimed at eliminating Erdogans top challenger ahead of the next election.
The party organized internal primaries nationwide to gauge party support for Imamoglu, but also invited the general public to take part through solidarity boxes.
You saw it. There were not enough ballots to vote, not enough envelopes to put them in, not enough hours to vote, he said, calling the turnout the strongest response to what the party described as a politically motivated prosecution.
Ozel declared Imamoglus nomination official and urged Erdogan to call early elections, claiming Sundays vote questioned (Erdogans) legitimacy. He insisted that early presidential elections are now inevitable.
A party spokesman confirmed to AFP on Monday that Imamoglu would be the CHPs presidential candidate for the 2028 race.
Imamoglus arrest has sparked widespread unrest across Turkey. Mass protests erupted in several major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, with demonstrators clashing with riot police. The authorities have confirmed the arrest of more than 300 people as of Sunday morning. Videos posted online show police using water cannons, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.
