The price to pay for being Erdoğan’s rival: Who may become Turkey’s next president?

Istanbul’s famous mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is seen by many as a potential next president of Turkey, if only Erdoğan doesn’t put him in jail, Politico reports.

“Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu can be forgiven for losing count of the dozens of often bewildering court cases and investigations that the authorities have leveled against him. That’s the price you pay when you emerge as the main rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” the newspaper writes. İmamoğlu, a 53-year-old secularist and one of Turkey’s most popular politicians, is expected to become the opposition’s presidential challenger this month at a meeting of his Republican People’s Party (CHP) on March 23. İmamoğlu has won three fiercely fought contests for Turkey’s biggest city. Given those successes, it’s little wonder that Erdoğan’s authorities have conjured up a dizzying array of legal proceedings to slow İmamoğlu down, or—in the extreme scenario—jail him. Istanbul is particularly sensitive territory for the Islamist government because Erdoğan himself also used his mayorship of the megacity as a springboard to secure power in a NATO heavyweight country of 85 million people. İmamoğlu’s lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan described “a broad legal offensive against [the mayor’s] political activities.” He told POLITICO that since İmamoğlu became mayor six years ago, 42 administrative and 51 judicial investigations had been opened against him and his office.

İmamoğlu himself says the president is seeking to jail him for up to 25 years. The cases range from the serious to the downright surreal. One of the allegations is that he kicked the tomb of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who captured what was then Constantinople from the Byzantines more than half a millennium ago. Another is that minibuses procured by his administration were not suitable for the streets of the biggest island in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul. Of the judicial investigations, which cover allegations such as threats, misconduct in office, tender-rigging, and bribery, 29 have so far been closed. Five are at the trial stage. Experts say İmamoğlu is the biggest threat to Erdoğan’s government or his chances of being reelected. The cases filed by the judiciary, one after the other when deemed necessary, are to eliminate this threat.