CHP chair defends Istanbul mayor against accusations

ISTANBUL

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has defended Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is being inspected by the Interior Ministry, vowing that no obstacle will prevent them from serving the people.

“Their [the government’s] job is to raise difficulties, our job is to overcome them. No matter what obstacle they throw, as long as we are right, we will overcome all of them and deliver the service to the people,” Kılıçdaroğlu said at a meeting in Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district on Jan. 7.

CHP leader referred to an ongoing probe against the Istanbul Municipality after İmamoğlu was accused of recruiting thousands of terror-linked personnel since mid-2019. İmamoğlu has denied all these accusations, stressing that the recruitment process only starts once applicants submit clean criminal records obtained from the Justice Ministry.

“The accusations against our Istanbul mayor are baseless. The whole world knows that these are baseless accusations. But there is something they forgot: I trust in this country’s and people’s foresight and conscious,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

“I would like to make a call from here: They should better not put obstacles. We will overcome them,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, urging that those who create such difficulties will pay for it when the time comes. “Those who try to impede our mayors should know this very well: We are perhaps in complete darkness now, but sunrise is very near.”

“Our duty is to embrace the entire [people of] Istanbul regardless of their faith, identity and lifestyle,” he stated.

Later in the day, Kılıçdaroğlu and İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener attended the groundbreaking ceremony for 30 kindergartens by the Istanbul Municipality.