Former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu visited İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Marmara Prison on Thursday, holding a nearly four-hour meeting in a public display of solidarity amid an intensifying government crackdown on the opposition, the Habertürk news website reported.
At the high-security prison in İstanbul’s Silivri district, Kılıçdaroğlu met with İmamoğlu as well as several other opposition figures detained in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation.
According to Habertürk, Kılıçdaroğlu left the facility without making a public statement; however, local media reported that the former opposition leader conveyed messages of morale and solidarity during the visit.
The visit was reportedly followed a request from İmamoğlu, with former CHP lawmaker Barış Yarkadaş stating that the mayor’s lawyer had relayed the request to Kılıçdaroğlu twice before the meeting was arranged. Kılıçdaroğlu’s decision to meet with İmamoğlu came at a time of mounting legal and political pressure on the opposition.
The recent crackdown on opposition figures has intensified since the arrest of İmamoğlu, a leading challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential race. İmamoğlu was detained on March 19 and later arrested on corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated. The investigation has expanded to include 47 municipal officials and opposition figures, with 30 arrests reported in İstanbul and Adana. Critics see the sweeping probe as an attempt to weaken the opposition and consolidate power ahead of a potential snap election.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s visit also carries symbolic significance within the CHP. Having led the party for over a decade, he was unseated in November 2023 following a fiercely contested party congress, where he was replaced by Özgür Özel after a two-round leadership vote. That congress is now at the center of a controversial indictment by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has charged 12 people — including İmamoğlu — with attempting to manipulate the internal vote. Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to three years and political bans for all the accused.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who has been listed as a victim in the indictment, has refused to testify. “I won’t discuss my party, the party that founded the republic, in courthouse corridors. I won’t allow it to be put on trial,” he said.
The investigation follows remarks by Erdoğan, who in February 2024 called the opposition congress “tainted” and implied that Kılıçdaroğlu had been removed through “fraudulent means.”