- A Turkish court of appeal has confirmed prison sentences totaling around five years and a ban on politics against the well-known Istanbul leader of the largest opposition party, the CHP.
- Canan Kaftancioglu was no longer allowed to be politically active for five years, her lawyer Ergün Özer told the German Press Agency. Özer, in turn, announced an appeal against the verdict.
- It was initially unclear whether Kaftancigolu would have to serve his sentence. She is considered an important political strategist. Parliamentary and presidential elections are expected to take place in the summer of 2023.
Kaftancioglu is the Istanbul provincial CHP leader and an influential supporter of her party colleague Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul. She was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison in 2019 on multiple charges, including insulting the president and publicly belittling the Turkish state.
Legend:
Istanbul chairwoman Kaftancioglu (left), party leader Kilicdaroglu (centre) and Istanbul mayor Immamoglu (right) gathered in front of the party headquarters in the city after the verdict to protest against the verdict.
key stone
According to the lawyer, the Supreme Court in Ankara has now confirmed the verdicts on three charges with a prison sentence of 4 years, 11 months and 20 days. The court overturned judgments on terror propaganda and incitement to hatred. The indictment was based on Twitter messages from 2012 to 2017.
Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu called on all MPs from his party to go to the Istanbul party headquarters immediately to protest. Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu described Kaftancioglu as his “companion” and condemned the decision as politically motivated.
Legend:
key stone
50-year-old Canan Kaftancioglu is a doctor and politician from Turkey. As leader of the largest opposition party, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP), she is considered to have paved the way for the election of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
The election of Imamoglu replaced a long-term dominance of the AKP in the politically important city. Since 2004, the authoritarian Islamic party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled the metropolis on the Bosporus with around 18 million inhabitants.
Erdogan’s political rise itself began in Istanbul. He held the post of mayor from 1994 to 1998. He became Prime Minister of Turkey in 2003 until 2014. It was one of the highest offices in the country. After the 2017 constitutional referendum initiated by Erdogan was accepted, a presidential system was introduced in 2018. Since then, Erdogan has presided over Turkey.
Erdogan lost Istanbul almost twice to the opposition because the first election was annulled. Imamoglu was also able to win the second ballot. Kaftancioglu played a key role in the success. Political experts from Turkey believe that Kaftancioglu could bring important successes for the CHP in the upcoming national elections in Turkey and thus pose a threat to the AKP in staying in power.
Imamoglu is being treated by some as an opposition candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next year’s presidential election. Imamoglu’s victory in the 2019 mayoral election had symbolic value: before that, the metropolis had been ruled by Erdogan’s ruling AKP party for more than 25 years.