The number of jailed main opposition party mayors in Turkey reached 24 as of April 18, according to data compiled by Intellinews.
Official statistics covering the wide-scope operations are not available. (See statistics and lists compiled by this publication here).
It is not possible to follow up all developments as there are dozens of separate prosecutions and ongoing trials. Each day, more Republican People’s Party (CHP) members are detained, arrested, released or put on trial.
The sorely lacking CHP
The CHP itself does not provide statistics on the operations. As per usual with Turkey’s less-than-compelling biggest opposition party, it has no consistent policy response. A riposte that you might expect to be maintained against the entirety of the ruling regime’s operations is sorely lacking. Many mayors are detained without a squeak from CHP headquarters.
From time to time, Ozgur Ozel, head of the CHP, holds a press conference and yells before the assembled cameras to protest against the arrest of a mayor or the seizure of a municipality.
Unfortunately, he’s renowned for demonstrative drivel. No one takes what he says seriously. On April 18, Ozel declared US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack persona non grata for questioning whether democracy was the right fit for countries in the Middle East. As of April 21, there were no reports of Barrack bothering to reply or pondering whether he should vacate his post.
A serious opposition party that outlines achievable targets, focuses on realising those targets, insists on sticking to those targets and eventually achieves results has been missing in Turkey since 2002, the year in which the CHP was relegated to the status of main opposition party.
Ozel talks, Ozel forgets. He is a bankrupted former pharmacy shopkeeper. He does not project much potential. That’s actually the reason why Ozel is not in jail. The powers that be are only too pleased to let him perform the role of main opposition leader. He is pleasingly tolerable.
There again, the government does keep the possibility of a court trial hanging over his head. Should Ozel suddenly find his mojo and cause a sensation by becoming an actual threat to the government, his time at the helm of the CHP could be ended in a flash.
Real deal, real target Imamoglu
In October 2024, the judicial operations targeted at the CHP began with the arrest of Esenyurt mayor Ahmet Ozer, who was accused of terrorism. In November 2025, he was released.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the deposed mayor of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, has been in jail since March 19, 2025. He remains the presidential candidate of the CHP and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief political rival. He is entirely intolerable as in anything even resembling a fair fight he would very likely wipe the floor with Erdogan.
So far, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have taken over 19 municipalities held by the CHP.
When lead state prosecutor Akin Gurlek took over the justice minister post in February, operations with the CHP in their cross-hairs were boosted.
Criminal case hearings, in which state prosecutors allege that Imamoglu is the leader of an “octopus-like” gang that has spread its tentacles into corrupt activities in Istanbul Municipality and some other CHP municipalities, are currently being held at Silivri Prison.
On March 9, the first hearing of the Imamoglu trial was held. Court officials wrote in the trial papers that the target is to complete the trial within 4,600 days (13 years).
Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas, another CHP member, is, like Ozel, not in jail, though he is a subject of many investigations. Observers say he remains outside the prison system because he has kept a public distance from suggestions that he run for the presidential candidacy. As if!
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