Turkey opposition crackdown intensifies as İmamoğlu faces multiple hearings during Nato summit

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Turkey opposition crackdown intensifies

Highlights

Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu faces three separate criminal hearings on Monday near Istanbul, risking over 2,300 years in prison for charges including political espionage, corruption, and a fraudulent degree.
The main corruption case against İmamoğlu involves over 400 defendants, a 4,000-page indictment, a July 9 defence deadline, and features his lead counsel also being detained.
Turkish authorities increased detentions of journalists, academics, and lawyers ahead of the Nato summit, while polls show the CHP would tie with Erdoğan’s party if elections were held today.

Simultaneous hearings deepen political tensions

As reported by Financial Times, İmamoğlu appears on Monday before three different judges in separate criminal hearings near Istanbul, in a case critics describe as a serious breach of fair trial standards. The jailed mayor of Istanbul, seen as a likely presidential candidate for the opposition Republican People’s Party, faces charges including political espionage, corruption and holding a fraudulent university degree.

If convicted, he could face more than 2,300 years in prison. The overlapping schedule forces defendants, lawyers and spectators to move between courtrooms inside the Silivri prison and courthouse complex outside Istanbul, a setting that underscores the scale and pressure surrounding the case.

İmamoğlu says he is waging a struggle for justice and the republic, while supporters in court chant “President İmamoğlu” as he enters. His legal difficulties are also mounting because the main corruption case against him, based on an indictment of nearly 4,000 pages and involving more than 400 defendants, is last week given a July 9 deadline for the conclusion of defence submissions, while his lead defence counsel is also detained.

Nacho Sánchez Amor, the EU rapporteur for Turkey, says on social media that the court no longer appears to preserve even the appearance of a fair trial. The Pact of Free Cities, an international network including London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Kyiv, Taipei and Los Angeles, says in a statement that a trial in which the principal defendant cannot be heard and his lawyers cannot act is not a trial in any meaningful sense.

Nato summit overshadows rule-of-law concerns

While Nato leaders arrive in Ankara for a summit starting on Tuesday, the alliance’s attention remains focused on security ties with Turkey, a regional military power with a fast-growing defence industry and Nato’s second-largest army after the U.S. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict involving Iran are pushing allies to avoid public criticism of Ankara’s democratic record.

At the same time, Turkish authorities are detaining journalists and dozens of academics and lawyers ahead of the summit. Stand-up comic Deniz Göktaş is also arrested on Friday on allegations including insulting the president, while hundreds of mayors and other officials from the CHP face prosecution.

Pressure on the opposition extends beyond İmamoğlu. CHP chair Özgür Özel is recently removed by court order in a move critics say is aimed at weakening the party before the next elections, scheduled for May 2028, although government officials insist the courts are independent.

Recent polls suggest the CHP would run level with Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party if an election were held today. They also indicate Erdoğan would lose to either İmamoğlu or Özel if he sought a third presidential term after more than two decades in power.

In our earlier article on Britain’s defence funding ahead of the NATO summit, we examined how the government deferred £4.7 billion in planned spending, raising doubts about meeting alliance commitments and long-term procurement plans. We also noted that worsening security risks — from Russia to costly cyber attacks — are intensifying the debate over military readiness and hard trade-offs in capabilities.

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