Ekrem İmamoğlu

Ekrem İmamoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [ecˈɾæm imamˈo:ɫu]; born 4 June 1970)[2] is a Turkish politician serving as the 32nd and current Mayor of Istanbul since 2019. He was first elected in the March 2019 mayoral election as the joint Nation Alliance candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the İYİ Party, but served only from 17 April 2019 until 6 May 2019, when the election was annulled. He was then reelected in a renewed election on 23 June 2019 by an even larger margin.[3] He had previously been the Mayor of Beylikdüzü, a western district of Istanbul, between 2014 and 2019.[4]

Ekrem İmamoğlu
Mayor of Istanbul
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 June 2019
Preceded by	Ali Yerlikaya (acting)
In office 17 April 2019 – 6 May 2019
Preceded by	Mevlüt Uysal
Succeeded by	Ali Yerlikaya (acting)
Mayor of Beylikdüzü
In office 1 April 2014 – 7 April 2019
Preceded by	Yusuf Uzun
Succeeded by	Mehmet Murat Çalık
Personal details
Born	4 June 1970 Akçaabat, Trabzon, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Political party	Republican People's Party (2008–present)
Other political affiliations	Motherland Party (1992)
Spouse(s)	Dilek Kaya ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	3[1]
Alma mater	Istanbul University
Website	www.ekremimamoglu.com

İmamoğlu emerged as a dark horse candidate to be the Nation Alliance's joint candidate for Istanbul Mayor, overtaking more prominent contenders such as Muharrem İnce, the CHP's 2018 presidential candidate. On the eve of the elections, İmamoğlu gained a narrow lead in the mayoral race, with initial results showing his lead to be around 23,000 votes. His lead was eventually cut to 13,729 after a series of recounts backed by the government.

İmamoğlu was sworn in as Mayor of Istanbul on 17 April, following the conclusion of all recounts. On 6 May 2019, the Supreme Electoral Council convened and voted to annul the results of the mayoral election. Members of the Council accepted the Justice and Development Party's objection to the local election results in Istanbul with seven members voting in favor of calling a new election and four against.[5] The election board also cancelled İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate.[6] A new election took place on 23 June 2019 in which İmamoğlu was re-elected as the mayor by a margin of approximately 800,000 votes. He was sworn into office on 27 June 2019. Because of the scale of his victory, he has been called a possible candidate for the Turkish presidency in the next elections.

Early life

İmamoğlu was born in June 1970, in the town of Akçaabat, west of the city Trabzon, in Turkey, to a religious family.[7] During early childhood, he lived in the rural communities Cevizli and Yıldızlı, southwest of Akçaabat. He graduated from Trabzon High School, where he played amateur soccer and handball.[8][1] In 1987 his family moved to Istanbul. He attended Istanbul University, and received a Bachelor's degree in business administration and a Master's degree in human resource management. Following his graduation, he joined his family's business in construction.[4] In 1995, he married Dilek Kaya, and together they have three children.[1][2] In 2002 he became an administrator with Trabzonspor, and he was also a vice president of the Trabzonspor B.K. basketball team.

Political career

İmamoğlu joined the Republican People's Party (CHP) in 2008,[9] and was elected as the head of the party's youth wing in 2009.[10] On 16 September 2009, he was selected by the CHP as the president of party's local chapter in the Istanbul district of Beylikdüzü. He was then reelected to this position on 8 March 2012, before resigning on 15 July 2013 to run for mayor of Beylikdüzü.[8] The election was held on 30 March 2014, as part of the 2014 Turkish local elections, and İmamoğlu won with 50.44% of the vote, defeating the incumbent AKP candidate Yusuf Uzun.[1][9][11]

Following the announcement of Istanbul Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş's resignation on 23 September 2017, İmamoğlu was nominated by the CHP to replace him. In the Istanbul Municipal Assembly election to fulfill the remainder of Topbaş's term, İmamoğlu lost to the AKP candidate Mevlüt Uysal after three rounds, by a mostly party-line vote of 125 to 179.[12]

2019 mayoral elections

Ekrem İmamoğlu and his spouse Dilek during his June 2019 Istanbul mayoral election campaign in Silivri.

The CHP again nominated İmamoğlu for the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election on 18 December 2018.[13] Both the İyi Party, which formed an alliance with the CHP, and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) declined to nominate candidates, which may have increased support for İmamoğlu.[14]

In the run-up to the elections, his campaign received worldwide attention for its mild-mannered and unifying approach, resulting in a narrowing of opinion polls against his rival, People's Alliance candidate Binali Yıldırım.[15] The election was held on 31 March 2019, with İmamoğlu defeating AK Party candidate Binali Yıldırım by roughly 25,000 votes according to the election day totals released by the Supreme Electoral Council. Following his upset victory in which the ruling AKP significantly outspent him and received more media coverage, İmamoğlu was called a rising star in Turkish politics and a potential candidate to challenge Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 Turkish presidential election.[16]

The AK Party disputed the election results on behalf of its candidate, alleging that invalid votes may have swayed the election, and erected large posters in the city proclaiming Yıldırım as the election's winner.[17] İmamoğlu, in turn, accused the AK Party of being "bad losers."[18] Following a government-backed recount, İmamoğlu's lead was reduced to roughly 16,000 votes.[19]

İmamoğlu was sworn in as Mayor of Istanbul on 17 April, 17 days after the election, following the conclusion of all recounts. His mayoral tenure came to an end when on 6 May 2019, the Supreme Electoral Council annulled the results of the election and removed him as Mayor of Istanbul. According to the YSK, the decision was taken because some presiding officers and polling staff were not civil servants. Turkish law stipulates they must be civil servants.[6] However, many have called this action as a move to undo the will of the voters, who handed a narrow but fiercely contested victory to the opposition candidate. Ali Yerlikaya was named as the interim mayor by the Interior Ministry of Turkey on 7 May 2019.[20]

A new election was held on 23 June 2019, in which İmamoğlu was re-elected as the mayor of Istanbul with more than 800.000 lead this time. Following his second loss to İmamoğlu, Yıldırım conceded defeat and also congratulated İmamoğlu on his re-election as mayor of Istanbul.[21][22] Erdoğan also congratulated İmamoğlu and acknowledged that he won the election.[23] İmamoğlu was then sworn into office on 27 June 2019.[24] The same day he also received his mayoral certificate for the second time.[25][26][27][28][29]

Political views

İmamoğlu has been highly critical of the Turkish Governments plans to build the Istanbul canal,[30] which would link the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea through a second water way besides the natural Bosphorus.[31] In an act which was deemed as an opposition to corruption, he displayed columns with hundreds of cars at the Yenikapı Square which were rented by the administration he succeeded.[32] İmamoğlu has also condemned the government's ban of a Kurdish-language adaption of Dario Fo's Trumpets and Raspberries over its alleged support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[33]

See also

• Mansur Yavaş
• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• Canan Kaftancıoğlu
• Muharrem İnce

References

1. "Ekrem İmamoğlu'nun hayatı… Ekrem İmamoğlu kimdir, nereli ve kaç yaşında?". Sozcu (in Turkish). 28 December 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
2. İnan, Mert (20 December 2018). "ANAP'lı ailenin CHP'li çocuğur". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 7 April 2019.
3. Istanbul election rerun won by opposition, in blow to Erdogan
4. "Ekrem İmamoğlu Kimdir" (in Turkish). ekremimamoglu.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
5. Murat Baykara; Tara John. "Turkey orders revote for Istanbul mayor". CNN. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
6. "Turkey's election body rules for Istanbul election re-run". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
8. "Ekrem İmamoğlu Biyografisi". Haberler (in Turkish). March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
9. "Ekrem İmamoğlu kimdir? (CHP'nin İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye başkan adayı)" (in Turkish). NTV. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
10. Gorcin, Omer Faruk (4 April 2019). "Erdogan's challenger? Hope behind the man close to becoming Istanbul's new mayor". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
11. "Ekrem İmamoğlu nereli? Ekrem İmamoğlu kimdir? Ekrem İmamoğlu kaç yaşında?" (in Turkish). Fanatik. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
12. Haberleri, Gündem (28 September 2017). "Son dakika: İBB Başkanlığı'na Mevlüt Uysal seçildi!". Sabah (in Turkish). Retrieved 7 April 2019.
13. "Son dakika... CHP'nin İstanbul adayı Ekrem İmamoğlu oldu". Hurriyet (in Turkish). 18 December 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
14. Kucukgocmen, Ali; Coskun, Orhan (5 April 2019). "Losing its luster - how Erdogan party's campaign put off Istanbul voters". Reuters. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
15. "The Latest: Opposition candidate says he won Istanbul". Associated Press. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
16. "Analysis: Turkey's elections show Erdogan's power is finally waning – and a new political star is born in Istanbul". The Independent. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
17. "Turkey election: Erdogan disputes results in major cities". BBC News. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
18. Lowen, Mark (4 April 2019). "Turkey AK party rulers are bad losers, says election 'winner' Imamoglu". BBC News. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
19. Gumrukcu, Tuvan (7 April 2019). "Erdogan's AK Party to seek recount of all Istanbul votes". Reuters. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
20. "Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya Appointed as Acting Mayor". İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
21. "Binali Yıldırım'dan açıklama". www.haberturk.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 23 June 2019.
22. "AKP's Yıldırım concedes defeat in Istanbul rerun". Ahval.
23. Lowen, Mark (23 June 2019). "Turkey's ruling party loses Istanbul election". BBC NEWS.
24. Ozerkan, Fulya. "Huge crowd cheers Istanbul mayor inauguration". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
25. "Ekrem İmamoğlu becomes Istanbul mayor after rerun polls - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
26. "Istanbul's new opposition mayor cuts funding to some pro-government..." Reuters. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
27. "Ekrem Imamoglu: From opposition underdog to Istanbul mayor". France 24. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
28. "Could Istanbul defeat be 'beginning of the end' for Erdogan?". euronews. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
29. "New Istanbul mayor's star power could be a challenge for Erdoğan". Public Radio International. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
30. "Mayor İmamoğlu: Whomever you made a promise for Canal İstanbul, give it up". Bianet. 25 December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
31. "Turkey to build waterway to bypass Bosphorus Straits". BBC News. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
32. "Turkish opposition gains momentum with corruption display, ruling party conflict". Ahval. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
33. "Turkey Bans Kurdish Rendition of Italian Play, Saying It Promotes PKK | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.

External links

• Official website