CHP leader slams ban on İmamoğlu prison visits

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel has confirmed reports that authorities have denied multiple requests to visit jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Several CHP officials — including the acting mayor, Nuri Aslan, the party's Istanbul head Özgür Çelik and several lawmakers — had for two weeks received no response from the Justice Ministry to their applications to visit İmamoğlu in prison, daily Cumhuriyet said on May 26.

Later in the day, Özel confirmed the report in a briefing to reporters after meeting Constitutional Court head Kadir Özkaya. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş was also among those barred from visiting, he added.

"They do not give permission because they do not want it to boost morale. They want him to be deprived of feelings of solidarity,” Özel said, calling the restrictions a form of “psychological warfare.”

He accused the government of using detention as a form of punishment, adding that the transfer of detainees linked to the Istanbul Municipality to distant prisons was part of the same tactic.

"They want us not to meet, not to talk. They want them to be demoralized. They are trying to make it impossible for their families and loved ones to visit by putting hundreds of kilometers between them," he said.

"We are behind them all the way. They are all standing very strong and will continue to do so. They entered there with their heads held high and blamelessly, and they will leave that way as well," he said.

İmamoğlu was arrested on corruption charges on March 23, the same day he was announced as the CHP’s presidential candidate for next elections.

The row over visitation rights follows a court order to block access to his X account in Türkiye and the removal of his images from public spaces. Content containing the mayor's voice, photos or videos has also been banned from airing on public transportation systems.