Turkey’s Justice Ministry is seeking to reopen the case against Ankara’s opposition mayor. According to the opposition, this is an attempt to damage the ruling party’s competitors before local elections in March.
Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and the country’s largest city, Istanbul, are governed by politicians from the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). While the proceedings initiated by the government against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu have been going on for some time, now the Ministry of Justice led by the ruling AKP party is asking to reopen the case against Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, which was closed in 2021, Lo reports the Financial Times.
The lawsuit against Yavasi began when a lawyer involved in a local real estate development accused the mayor of defamation. However, the prosecutor’s office saw no reason to seek punishment in the complaint and the court dismissed the complaint in 2021.
Now the Justice Department wants the court to reopen the case. According to the opposition, the move is linked to local elections in March. Yavas won mayoral elections in the Turkish capital in 2019, ending more than 20 years of AKP party rule.
This is not the first time the AKP has attempted to use the justice system to defame or even remove opponents from office.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul, could be banned from politics, again in connection with a defamation case. Imamoglu’s first election victory in 2019 was annulled due to alleged errors. In the second vote, however, Imamoglu won with a large advantage over his AKP opponent. In early December last year, a Turkish court ruled that he had insulted officials who organized the rerun of the vote. If the ruling comes into force after examining the appeal, Imamoglu could lose the right to stand for election and hold elective office.
Both Imamoglu and Yavas are popular enough to threaten the future chances of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or his political successor.
CHP MP Umut Akdogan called the case against Yavas a coup attempt against the will of the people of Ankara. This, he added, is an example of politicization of the Turkish judicial system.
In the wake of the failed 2016 military coup attempt against Erdogan’s government, the Turkish president carried out extensive purges of public officials, particularly judges and prosecutors.
2023-12-11 10:18:00
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