Hours after his conviction by a Turkish court and the rallies organized by opposition parties in his support, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu turned to K and stressed that he did not expect such a verdict.

Last Wednesday, the court sentenced him to two years, seven months and 15 days in prison for “insulting” government officials. Mr. Imamoglu was found guilty of insulting Turkey’s Electoral Commission after the 2019 election thriller. But the mayor of Istanbul said he responded at the time to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who called Mr. Imamoglu “stupid.”

“But in 2019, Imamoglu’s victory was canceled with a difference of 13,000 votes. Then they lost by 800,000 votes. Will they repeat the same mistakes? — analysts of the opposition TV company Halk TV asked on the eve of the court decision. If the court’s decision becomes final, Mr. Imamoglu is threatened with deprivation of political rights, he will not be able to be mayor or participate in elections. The appellate court process can take up to two years.

But on Thursday evening, the district attorney filed an appeal. In legal circles, they argue that the actions of the prosecutor’s office may be aimed at speeding up the procedure for recognizing the court’s decision as legal. Mr. Imamoglu’s associates say the prosecutor did not consider the sentence “sufficient”.

Immediately after the announcement of the court decision, thousands of citizens gathered in the Istanbul City Hall, and Mr. Imamoglu and Meral Aksener, chairman of the Good Party, rushed to the scene, which was interpreted as political support and for the possible further political plans of the mayor of Istanbul.

The government camp says that the court’s decision is not final and emphasizes that everyone should wait for the decision of the appellate court. Mr. Soylu called Mr. Imamoglu “the most failed mayor in history.”

The opposition fears legal action could be taken in time for the June 2023 elections that could block Mr. Imamoglu’s candidacy. At the same time, there are also rumors that the Interior Minister, Mr. Soylu, may remove him from office on other charges and appoint him as an official of the Istanbul Municipality. This formula has been used in dozens of municipalities in southeastern Turkey, where elected mayors have been accused of collaborating with terrorist organizations.

However, in the government camp, the “ideal opposition candidate” is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who, according to public opinion polls, is the only one who loses to Mr. Erdogan. Perhaps that is why Erdogan’s government partner, Nationalist Action Party (MHP) president Devlet Bahceli, in a tweet, claimed that “the rally and hug between Imamoglu and Aksener are a conspiracy against Kılıçdaroğlu, who was in Germany at the time. The goal of the game is Kılıçdaroğlu.”

The full interview of Mr. Imamoglu in K is as follows:

“I just expected my acquittal in this case. Because everyone in Turkey knows that I also responded to the Minister of the Interior, who called me “stupid”. This issue has nothing to do with the Supreme Electoral Council. I made this statement on November 4, 2019, but the case went to court 20 months later, on May 27, 2021. This case is about state pressure on justice. Because even the first judge of the first instance stated that he was pressured to pass a guilty verdict. And he was exiled. However, he did not even begin to initiate an investigation into this case. Unfortunately, politics has taken the judiciary hostage.

He wants the law and democracy to work only for him, while he is extremely unfair to his opponents.

– First of all, let me say that I don’t like being compared to Erdogan. The real problem here is that Erdogan seems to enjoy doing a lot more for all of us than he has done in the past. He wants the law and democracy to work only for him, while he is extremely unfair to his opponents.

– The support of the six leaders and the great support of the people of Istanbul (S.S. Constantinople) in our call were very important. But concentration will not be the turning point. We will transform when we win the elections and put Turkey on the right track.

– I do not comment on the decision that the top six will make. I am very happy to serve Istanbul.

– According to polls, almost 70% of our people consider the decision unfair and criticize it.

– Messages of support came from many parts of the world, including from Greece.