Turkish court hands Istanbul mayor over two-year term and possible political ban

A Turkish court sentenced imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu to more than two years in prison for allegedly insulting former Tuzla district mayor Şadi Yazıcı, also imposing a potential political ban under Article 53 of the penal code. The conviction stems from İmamoğlu’s remarks at the opening of the Tuzla Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant in October 2022, where he described Yazıcı’s speech as “discourteous” and said “bad words belong to the person who speaks them.”

Prosecutors had sought a term between three months and two years, four months; the sentence will not be enforced until any appeal is resolved. İmamoğlu, detained since March 2025 in a major corruption case and facing a separate espionage charge, rejected the verdict as illegitimate and urged supporters to stay hopeful. The ruling adds to a series of convictions related to his public statements, many still under appeal, and follows Human Rights Watch criticism that Turkey is weaponising the justice system against opposition figures. İmamoğlu, who ended AKP rule in Istanbul in 2019, won re-election in 2024 and was the CHP presidential candidate in 2025, said the proceedings illustrate a pattern of politically motivated prosecutions.