İmamoğlu says he's not after office, but ‘a tough fight’

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, seeking to run for the presidency, has said that his only concern was to rebuild the state structure, the economy, democracy, and the law that “the government has destroyed.”

Saturday March 08 2025 01:51 am

Duvar English

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on Feb. 6 shared a video regarding his newly announced campaign for the presidency on his social media accounts.

Önce aday, sonra Cumhurbaşkanı olma iddiasıyla yola çıkıyorum.

Ortak akıl ve uzlaşmayla Türkiye yeniden ayağa kalkacak, milletçe birliğimizi ve kardeşliğimizi yeniden kazanacağız. pic.twitter.com/mEVdX0UxzT
— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) March 6, 2025

In the video, İmamoğlu says he was not after the office, but “a tough fight.”

He said that his only concern and dream was to rebuild the state structure, the economy, democracy, and the law that “the government has destroyed,” and to “make the state the guardian of the nation's interests and the nation's security, not a handful of people.”

“We can change this corrupt order only through a principled, virtuous solidarity, every step of which is determined by the broadest consensus,” he added.

The first step of this consensus is the primary that his Republican People’s Party (CHP) will hold this month, the popular mayor noted.

The CHP will hold a primary on March 23 to name its presidential candidate, which is an unusual move in Turkish politics.

İmamoğlu is the only candidate in the primary in which all CHP members can vote.

“We will put forward the will of our party on March 23rd and turn to all the republicans, democrats, and patriots of this country and say, there is no salvation, alone! Let's all take charge together,” İmamoğlu added.

İmamoğlu is facing several judicial investigations and can get a political ban as he is regarded a strong rival against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The elections are scheduled for 2028 but the CHP is pressuring the government to hold an early election this year.