Can Is the mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, arrested by Istanbul, become Türkiye’s next president?

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained in the early hours of Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and ties to terrorist groups.

By Sunday, he was formally arrested and taken to Marmara Prison after being arrested at the request of the prosecutor.

İmamoğlu’s lawyer Fikret İlkiz told Euronews Turkish that the request for arrest as part of a terrorist investigation was denied.

Meanwhile, on the morning of İmamoğlu’s arrest, his Republican People’s Party (CHP) held a general election to determine its candidate for the 2028 presidential election.

Imamoğlu, who entered the primary, was elected as the presidential candidate for the left-wing CHP.

In a decision made in February, only health members could vote in the party’s primary election, but after the first detention of Imamomora on Wednesday, the party announced that all citizens could vote “for unity purposes”.

The result of this vote was that the chairman of the Centre for Health Protection Özgürözel announced that 1.6 million party members participated in the poll, and İmamoğlu received a total of about 15 million votes and conducted a “solidarity” vote.

Is his arrest a barrier to presidency?

Despite his arrest, there are currently no obstacles, namely, İmamoğlu becomes presidential candidate and is elected.

According to the Constitution, in order to become a presidential candidate and be elected, you must be a college graduate, not convicted of any crime, and be over 40 years of age.

Imamoğlu’s arrest does not constitute a barrier to his candidacy as president and elections, as there is no final judicial ruling under the law.

İlkiz told Euronews that Imamoğlu and his legal team were expecting to prepare the indictment and would file a lawsuit as part of an investigation against him, but they could not predict how long it would take.

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If Imamoğlu is found guilty of any crime against him and imposes a political ban, he will not be able to run for office.

Although İmamoğlu served as the primary and was elected as a candidate, this does not have the status of an official candidate.

For official candidates, the CHP parliamentary panel must nominate İmamoğlu as candidate after the Supreme Election Commission (YSK) announces the election calendar.

At the end of this process, he can officially become a presidential candidate for CHP as long as he fulfills the conditions of the candidate and is not convicted of a criminal offence on the date of nomination.

Will revoking his college diploma prevent his candidacy?

İmamoğlu, who graduated from the Ministry of Business Administration of the University of Istanbul, applied to participate in the primary election of the Centre for Health Protection on February 21.

According to the Constitution, to be a presidential candidate and be elected, a university degree must be obtained.

Last Tuesday, the University of Istanbul decided to cancel diplomas from 28 graduates, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, on the grounds of “absence” and “obvious errors”.

However, the decision to cancel diplomas at the University of Istanbul did not prevent İmamoğlu from becoming a presidential candidate.

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İmamoğlu has appealed to the Administrative Court for a ruling against the university. If the Administrative Court decides to cancel the diploma, İmamoğlu can also appeal the decision.

However, if his diploma is explicitly revoked at the end of this process after the appeal, İmamoğlu could lose the qualification to become a presidential candidate.

Imamoğlu’s legal team announced that it would file an application with the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECTHR) to cancel the diploma against rights violations.

If an election is held while the legal process is underway, and İmamoğlu also applies, YSK will eventually make a final decision on the qualification of the candidate.

Diploma problem story

There are allegations of “violations”, about the transfer of İmamoğlu from the Ministry of Business Administration of the Gilne American University (GAU) in Northern Cyprus, where he studied in the same department at the University of Istanbul between 1988 and 1990.

At the request of the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul, regarding these allegations, the Supervisory Board of the Higher Education Commission (Yök) prepared an investigation report regarding the president of the University of Istanbul and İmamoğlu.

In the report, it was noted that from the time of his transfer, İmamoğlu met the necessary conditions.

However, due to the results of the assessment, it was found that the transfer acceptance procedure performed by the University of Istanbul was not carried out in accordance with Yök’s decision and procedures.

Professor Adem Sözüer, criminal attorney for the Imamomo legal team, said that İmamoğlu fulfilled the transfer conditions announced by the university in September 1990.

In November 1991, İmamoğlu transferred for 14 months, the Higher Education Council decided that it would not be able to recognize Girne American University.

This led to the withdrawal of Imamolu’s degree on Tuesday.

Imamoğlu’s arrest and protest

In a statement from the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul: “The suspect Ekrem İmamoğlu is accused of establishing and leading a criminal organization, bribery (and) blackmail.”

After completing the İmamoğlu’s statement process in the early morning at the Çağlayan Court, 91 suspects filed the court with the arrest request, and the first arrest ruling was announced in the early morning.

The Criminal Peace Court ruled that 18 other people were arrested within the scope of the investigation, including Dr. Buğra Gökçe, the president of the Istanbul Planning Bureau (İpa) and the consultant of Tuncayyılmaz, İmamoğlu Construction.

Meanwhile, protests in Istanbul have spread across the country since then, following the detention of İmamoğlu on Wednesday. On the same day he was detained, the commander of the Istanbul province issued a four-day protest ban.

The biggest protests besides the biggest protests held in Ismir and the capital Ankara. However, in both cities, the governor also issued a ban.

Following the ban, access to social media was blocked.