Turkey's opposition CHP leader speaks to DW

DW (English)

After his arrest, Ekram Imamoglu's Republican People's Party (CHP) chose him to be its candidate in Turkey's presidential election, which is currently scheduled for 2028. CHP leader Ozgur Ozel told DW last weekend that Imamoglu's arrest was a politically motivated attempt to stop the Istanbul mayor from becoming Turkey's next president.

Transcript

00:00Özgü Özel, the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, the party of arrested

00:05Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

00:08Thank you for your time.

00:10You called Mr. İmamoğlu's arrest, quote, a judicial coup.

00:15Explain to me what exactly you mean by that.

00:19Now, if you remove someone in power by force, rather than through votes, we call this a

00:26coup.

00:27Turkey's history and the history of democracy have experienced various coups.

00:33What's happening this time is different, because instead of targeting the current government,

00:38they're staging a coup against the future government.

00:41They're carrying out a coup against the future president of Turkey, against the possibility

00:46of the Republican People's Party, the CHP, becoming the governing party.

00:51This is an attempt to eliminate political opponents by abusing public power, preventing

00:58them from running in elections.

01:07Can you say with certainty that there is no basis to the corruption accusations against

01:12Ekrem İmamoğlu?

01:15There is no corruption whatsoever.

01:18If there was, how could I, as a social democrat, defend him so openly?

01:22If there was even the slightest hint of corruption, our party, being the most sensitive about

01:26this issue, would immediately initiate disciplinary procedures and punish those involved ourselves.

01:32But this is not a legal process.

01:34It's a political process.

01:36Since Erdoğan cannot openly tell the world, I arrested İmamoğlu because he was going

01:41to defeat me in the elections and become the next president after me, he instead says,

01:46I arrested him for corruption.

01:49He has filed five different cases against İmamoğlu, one for corruption, one for insult,

01:54another related to expert testimony and so on.

01:57He's seeking a total of 25 years in prison and in each case also demanding a political

02:02ban.

02:03His goal is to eliminate his political opponent.

02:06Most recently, as you know, they annulled the university diploma İmamoğlu received

02:1031 years ago.

02:12Why?

02:13Because in Turkey, a university decree is required to run for president.

02:17All these things that have happened are not about seeking the truth, they're about imposing

02:21a political ban on İmamoğlu.

02:28Your party has nominated Mr. İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate, but how can he

02:32run if he's in prison and do you have a plan B?

02:37If he's in prison and does not receive a political ban, and if we win the lawsuit we have filed

02:42against the annulment of his diploma, then there will be no obstacle to his candidacy.

02:48In that case, even if İmamoğlu is in prison, we would still run with him as a candidate.

02:54He would remain in prison while all CHP members and all Democrats in Turkey would campaign

03:00on his behalf.

03:01There's no issue with that.

03:03However, if his candidacy is legally blocked, for example, if his diploma is not reinstated,

03:10then someone else will take his place as the candidate.

03:13But the election will not be about choosing a president, it will be about freedom for

03:18Ekrem İmamoğlu.

03:20It will be a referendum on democracy versus autocracy.

03:24People will go to the polls to make that decision.

03:33Almost 2,000 people have been detained in connection with the protests within just about

03:39a week.

03:40President Erdoğan has branded the demonstrations, let me quote him, as a movement of violence.

03:46Do you want people to continue to take to the streets despite all this?

03:52We had two choices.

03:53Either stay silent and sit at home, surrendering to Erdoğan's unlawful actions, or take to

03:59the streets under the belief that all forms of resistance against a coup attempt are legitimate.

04:05I chose democracy and called people to the streets, leading to a remarkable seven days

04:10of resistance.

04:11Today, İmamoğlu is being held in a cell, meanwhile Erdoğan resides in a palace built

04:18for himself.

04:19Yet he is under stress, as if he were in the depths of a dungeon.

04:23That's why I see that we hold both the psychological and moral high ground.

04:30What are your next steps and how do you want to maintain the momentum of the protest movement?

04:36We will continue with massive daytime rallies every Saturday in a major Turkish city and

04:42nighttime rallies every Wednesday in an Istanbul district.

04:46At the same time, we're launching the world's largest signature campaign to demand İmamoğlu's

04:51release.

04:52Through this global signature campaign and rallies in all 81 provinces of Turkey, we

04:57will raise our demand for Ekrem İmamoğlu's freedom.

05:01Özgür Özel, Chairman of the Turkish Main Opposition CHP, thank you very much.

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