New Istanbul mayor selected as Ekrem Imamoglu remains in custody

Nuri Aslan is made interim mayor, as protests continue over arrest of rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Ekrem Imamoglu was chosen as presidential candidate by the opposition Republican People's Party on the day he was arrested. AFP

Officials in Istanbul elected an interim replacement on Wednesday for the Turkish city’s popular mayor, who is being held in custody on corruption charges.

Members of the municipal council representing Turkey’s largest city selected deputy chairman Nuri Aslan as an interim mayor to replace Ekrem Imamoglu, who was detained last week. He is being held at a prison west of Istanbul accused of accepting bribes, misconduct in office, unlawfully recording personal data and bid rigging. Mr Imamoglu denies these charges.

The 314-member municipal council, made up of district mayors and councillors, is the main decision-making body for the city of 16 million residents, which is Turkey’s financial hub and most important urban centre.

Its vote came after Mr Imamoglu was remanded in custody on Sunday, following his earlier detention in a house raid. Critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan say Mr Imamoglu’s arrest is politically motivated because he is widely seen as the Turkish leader’s strongest competitor in future presidential elections. Turkish government officials deny the accusation and say the rule of law is being applied.

On Sunday – the day of his arrest – Mr Imamoglu’s Republican People's Party chose him as its candidate to stand for president in 2028.

Istanbul council is controlled by the political opposition to Mr Erdogan’s government – and is normally led by Istanbul’s mayor. The council serves a five-year term, the same as city mayors, who are chosen in local elections. The next vote is due in 2029.

Nuri Aslan ran against Justice and Development Party (AKP) chairman Zeynel Abidin Okul. After two rounds of voting failed to produce the required two-thirds majority, the third round proceeded with a simple majority rule. With 177 votes, Mr Aslan secured the required majority and was elected as acting mayor.

An official from the Republican People's Party (CHP), which controls the Istanbul city council, said that Mr Imamoglu remains the Mayor of Istanbul.

"We elected Nuri Aslan, who Imamoglu already designated as his deputy," said the official, Ulku İnanli, according to Mr Imamoglu's media team. "This is not a new mayoral election, it is a temporary arrangement.”

After his election, Mr Aslan said that he had been "temporarily entrusted" with Mr Imamoglu's mandate. “Our elected Mayor will return soon ... we will restore that trust to its rightful owner.”

A qualified naval engineer, Mr Aslan has served as a district councillor in various districts of Istanbul since the late 1990s, and has been the city council deputy chairman since April 2024.

People protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on March 26. Reuters

No trial date has been set for Mr Imamoglu, whose arrest has prompted hundreds of thousands of Turks to take to the streets in protest. This is despite a ban on public gatherings imposed in key centres, such as Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.

Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested in connection with the protests, which have at times turned violent, Turkey’s Interior Minister said on Tuesday.

Mr Imamoglu was re-elected to lead Istanbul last year for a second term, beating a candidate from Mr Erdogan’s ruling AKP.

There is precedent for an elected mayor being removed from his position and jailed – in the form of Mr Erdogan himself. While serving as the mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s, the Turkish leader was handed a 10-month prison sentence, of which he served four months, after he was convicted of “inciting hatred” in an address to Islamist supporters. At the time, he was barred from running for public office, but the ban was later lifted and he returned to become Prime Minister and then President of Turkey.

Mr Imamoglu has also been stripped of his university degree, complicating his ability to run in future national leadership elections, although he can appeal against the move. Turkey's constitution requires the president to have a tertiary education.