Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for allegedly insulting the former mayor of Istanbul’s Tuzla district, in a ruling that could also lead to a political ban if the conviction becomes final.
The ruling was handed down by a Turkish court on Friday, according to the Anka news agency.
The prison sentence and restrictions under Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code are not immediately enforceable. They would take effect only if the conviction is upheld on appeal or otherwise becomes final.
Article 53 can restrict a convicted person’s ability to hold public office and exercise certain political rights. Such restrictions are commonly described as a political ban.
The case dates back to October 25, 2022, when Imamoglu attended the opening of the Tuzla Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant.
At the event, then-Tuzla Mayor Şadi Yazıcı delivered a speech criticising the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Protests broke out among some members of the audience.
Imamoglu urged the crowd to remain calm and accused Yazıcı of coming to the event to create tension.
The case centred on Imamoglu describing Yazıcı’s conduct as “discourteous” and saying that “bad words belong to the person who speaks them.”
Prosecutors subsequently charged Imamoglu with publicly insulting a public official and sought a sentence of between three months and 15 days and two years and four months.
Imamoglu denied insulting Yazıcı and argued that his remarks had been taken out of context. His lawyers maintained that he had been attempting to calm the crowd and that his comments constituted political criticism.
The mayor had previously been acquitted twice in the case.
He was first acquitted under a simplified trial procedure and was acquitted again following a full hearing in December 2023. An appeals court later overturned the second acquittal on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial.
Imamoglu: “Appointed judges cannot decide my fate”
Friday’s hearing took place at the Marmara Prison complex in Silivri, west of Istanbul, where Imamoglu has been jailed since March 2025 in connection with the main corruption investigation involving the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
A second arrest order was issued against him in October 2025 in a separate political espionage case. Imamoglu denies the allegations and has repeatedly said the cases against him are politically motivated.
During Friday’s proceedings, Imamoglu said it was his fifth hearing in five days.
He claimed that he had faced 12 criminal cases and one administrative case over the previous two years, while 19 judges had been replaced during the proceedings.
“Before I can explain the unlawfulness of one investigation, another one comes along,” he said.
Following the verdict, Imamoglu rejected the ruling.
“Appointed judges cannot decide my fate,” he said as he left the courtroom, while urging his supporters to remain hopeful.
The mayor was also due to appear in person at a June 5 hearing but was returned to Silivri before reaching Istanbul Anadolu Courthouse after officials said the vehicle transporting him had broken down.
He instead appeared by videoconference and described his treatment as “torture.”
Growing number of convictions
Friday’s ruling adds to a series of convictions against Imamoglu over remarks he made in public, although most of those judgments have not become final.
In December 2022, a Turkish court sentenced him to two years and seven months in prison and imposed a political ban after finding him guilty over comments in which he called members of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board “fools.”
Imamoglu argued that the remark was directed at then-Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who had previously used the same word against him. That judgment remains under appeal.
In July 2025, Imamoglu was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for allegedly insulting and threatening then-Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, who is now Turkey’s justice minister.
The court acquitted him of a separate charge involving the identification of an official involved in counterterrorism operations as a target. That judgment is also subject to appeal.
Imamoglu was previously fined TL 7,080 in 2021 over allegations that he insulted Seddar Yavuz, then governor of Ordu province, during a dispute at Ordu-Giresun Airport in 2019.
Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld that conviction in December 2025, making it final.
Erdogan’s leading political rival
Imamoglu was detained on March 19, 2025, before being formally arrested four days later as part of a sweeping corruption investigation into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He was subsequently suspended from his position as mayor.
Human Rights Watch said in March that the Turkish government was “weaponizing the criminal justice system” to push Imamoglu out of politics, pointing to his prolonged pretrial detention and the increasing number of cases against him.
Imamoglu emerged as a major national political figure in 2019 after defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate to become Istanbul mayor, ending more than two decades of AKP rule in Turkey’s largest city.
He secured re-election by a wide margin in March 2024, further strengthening his position as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most prominent political opponents.
In March 2025, Imamoglu was selected as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate for Turkey’s presidency.
His continued imprisonment and the succession of legal cases against him have become a major flashpoint in Turkey’s political opposition, with supporters accusing the government of using the courts to prevent one of Erdogan’s strongest rivals from competing for national office.
