Republican People’s Party: Political Indictment Against İmamoğlu
Legal experts of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) evaluated the indictment prepared against Ekrem İmamoğlu for the newspaper Cumhuriyet.
CHP Deputy Group Chairman Murat Emir stated: “This indictment specifically attempts to portray İmamoğlu’s political movement as a crime.” He added: “In the current situation, this indictment is legally weak for us. It is a judicial operation aimed at shaping Turkish politics and preventing the Republican People’s Party from moving toward power by keeping İmamoğlu and our colleagues in prison.”
Regarding whether a case might be filed against the Republican People’s Party (CHP) based on the indictment, Emir said: “The Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement on this matter. It is clear that there is no crime that would justify the closure of the party. The Prosecutor’s Office intervened. Concerned that this issue could lead to absurd and unimaginable debates in Turkey, they immediately issued the necessary statement. We consider this an attempt to attack the Republican People’s Party from every angle, whether they have a basis or not.”
CHP Aydın Deputy Bülent Tezcan declared: “The indictment is not a corruption investigation, but a document of a political operation. The goals of this organization include ‘taking control of the Republican People’s Party’ and ‘seeking to gain power.’ Portraying a political objective as a criminal element reveals the nature of this operation. The second main element is targeting the institutional structure of the Republican People’s Party and attempting to lay the groundwork for closing the case. The letter sent to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation falls within this framework. The indictment, as evidence of a political conspiracy—even leading to the closure of the case—was prepared to prevent İmamoğlu from becoming president and to block the Republican People’s Party’s candidacy for power.”
Tezcan also emphasized that the indictment lacks evidence, saying: “Financial crimes are mentioned, but there is no proven money involved. Talking about corruption without money laundering is impossible. They tried to portray the municipality’s relations as criminal relations. In short, the purpose of this investigation is clear: to prevent Ekrem İmamoğlu from becoming president and to render the Republican People’s Party ineffective. If possible, to prepare the ground for closing the case.”
CHP Aydın Deputy Süleyman Bülbül also asked: “Adam Soytekin, who became an informant after being arrested in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality case, was re-arrested three and a half months after being released from prison. The arrest warrant sent by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to the court emphasized that Soytekin, in order to avoid involvement in the case, presented contradictory and false information as if it were true, and this was clearly proven. I ask: Did the Prosecutor’s Office not issue a new arrest warrant because Adam Soytekin’s slanderous statements were deemed ‘false’? Is it lawful to attempt to fabricate the basis of accusations in the indictment with these ‘false’ statements?”
Bülbül, pointing out that the indictment includes videos from the CHP congress case, said: “Trying to criminalize the democratic election campaigns of the Republican People’s Party and writing phrases such as ‘Children, we will see better days, we will ride bicycles to the blue seas’ in the indictment as if it were propaganda for an organization is a sign of hostile law enforcement and the government’s desperation.”
