Investigation launched into Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu two hours after he spoke for allegedly ‘threatening’ prosecutor

Duvar English

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Jan. 20 launched an investigation into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for allegedly “threatening” Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek and his family. 

On the same day, İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticized the detention of CHP youth branch head Cem Aydın. 

Without a detention order, Aydın was taken to a courthouse by eight police officers to testify within the investigation launched against him for calling Gürlek “mobile guillotine.” 

CHP leader Özgür Özel often calls Akın Gürlek “mobile guillotine” for his politically motivated investigations launched into opposition figures to oppress them. Gürlek was a deputy justice minister and appointed to this duty in 2024. 

Criticizing Aydın’s detention, İmamoğlu said, “I’m calling on the chief prosecutor. We will dismantle this mindset that governs you to protect even your children from this treatment. We will dismantle it so that no one can take your children from your house in the morning. We will remove the ideas in your mind from every part of this country so that we can provide peace for your family.”

“We need to cleanse this country of these malicious people, there is no other way, there is no other solution and everyone should know that we will succeed,” he added while speaking at the Panel on Modern Law and Politicization of the Judiciary, held in Istanbul.

Two hours after he spoke, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into İmamoğlu on the charges of “threatening” and “targeting people fighting against terrorism,” claiming that he “threatened” Gürlek and his family. 

Istanbul’s popular mayor faces several investigations and likely a political ban as he is considered a strong rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In response to the investigation, İmamoğlu said, “There is not a single word of threat in my speech. I did not / would not threaten anyone over their family and children.”

“Every word I used was a demand for an impartial law for the children and future of everyone in this country. I stand by my word, always, justice for all. I refer the Chief Public Prosecutor, who has made a threat allegation here, to God and the conscience of the nation,” he added in a social media post.

Speaking to the press, İmamoğlu said, “A mind that personalizes so much, that creates an investigation based on the sentence I uttered, which contains so much innocence is seriously threatening Istanbul and Turkey on legal grounds.”

“I said about Mr. President (Erdoğan), ‘constantly thinking of me’, but I guess the chief prosecutor is in the same psychology. He thinks about me day and night,” he added.

CHP leader Özgür Özel said they were starting a process “in which we will take over power” this year. 

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, from the CHP, threw his support behind İmamoğlu and said it was "impossible" to find a "threat" in İmamoğlu's remarks.

"This investigation decision creates the impression that the Chief Public Prosecutor has personalized the case, almost taking it out of the legal system. This means 'don't talk about me'. This is unacceptable in terms of law," he added.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said, “No one should be disturbed by the fact that the independent and impartial judiciary has taken action against those who have made reckless, unlawful and criminal statements against our members of the judiciary, especially our Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor.”

Tunç also called İmamoğlu’s remarks “threatening” and “targeting.”

“According to Article 138 of our Constitution, judges are independent in their duties. No organ, authority, or person may give orders and instructions to courts and judges in the exercise of judicial power,” he claimed. 

The investigation is seen as another attempt of the government's crackdown on the CHP. Recently, CHP's two Istanbul district mayors were ousted by Ankara.

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