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Former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu appeared in court this week, marking the latest chapter in one of the most controversial legal battles in modern Turkish history.
Imamoglu was removed from office and arrested in March 2025 following corruption allegations.
Prosecutors accuse him and three co-defendants of “political espionage” linked to the landmark 2019 Istanbul election and alleged municipal data leaks.
After three days of hearings held at a courtroom complex across from Silivri Prison on the outskirts of Istanbul, the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court ruled Wednesday that Imamoglu and the three other defendants would remain in pretrial detention pending further proceedings.
The court also ordered additional technical examinations into alleged data breaches involving Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) systems and adjourned the case until July 6.
The case has drawn nationwide attention not only because of the severity of the accusations, but also because Imamoglu is widely viewed as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongest political rivals and a central figure in Türkiye’s opposition.
Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years and political bans for Imamoglu, his longtime campaign strategist Necati Ozkan, journalist Merdan Yanardag, and businessman Huseyin Gun.
All four defendants deny the charges.
At the center of the case is a 160-page indictment largely built around digital materials, messages, and testimony linked to Huseyin Gun, a London-connected financier and technology entrepreneur who was first detained in July 2025 on espionage accusations.
Turkish prosecutors said the investigation initially expanded following an anonymous tip submitted to Türkiye’s emergency call system, after which authorities examined Gun’s digital records, financial activity, and international contacts.
Gun later sought to benefit from Türkiye’s “effective remorse” provisions, a legal mechanism that can allow reduced sentences for suspects who cooperate with investigators, while continuing to deny the core espionage allegations.
Prosecutors allege that sensitive municipal data and personal information belonging to citizens were unlawfully obtained from systems linked to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and transferred through networks connected to Gun.
According to the indictment, some of the allegedly leaked information was shared with individuals linked to foreign intelligence circles, including former U.S. intelligence-linked cybersecurity figure Aaron Barr.
The prosecution further claims that data-driven political analyses derived from those materials were used to shape public perception during the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election in favor of Imamoglu.
According to prosecutors, the alleged chain operated through Gun’s contact with Imamoglu’s campaign director Necati Ozkan, while journalist Merdan Yanardag allegedly represented the “media leg” of the operation through the opposition-aligned broadcaster TELE1.
The indictment also claims that approximately ₺85 million ($1.87 million) moved through accounts linked to Gun despite what prosecutors described as an absence of visible commercial activity.
Under Article 328 of the Turkish Penal Code, political espionage is defined as obtaining confidential information that must remain secret for reasons related to state security or political interests.
During the hearings, prosecutors requested that Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and counterterrorism police units conduct additional examinations into the authenticity of several emails and alleged access records tied to IBB systems.
The prosecution asked authorities to determine whether individuals associated with certain email accounts had worked for the municipality during the relevant period and whether accounts connected to “ibb.gov.tr” systems were used to access institutional servers, VPN systems, active directory infrastructure, or remote-access platforms.
Prosecutors also demanded detailed reviews of IP logs and security records to identify signs of unauthorized access, account compromise, or data leaks.
In its interim ruling, the court said the defendants would remain jailed due to the nature of the accusations, the severity of the potential sentences, the ongoing evidence collection process, and concerns that judicial control measures would be insufficient at this stage.
The court adjourned the trial until July 6.
The case has triggered intense political and legal debate across Türkiye, with opposition figures describing it as politically motivated while prosecutors frame it as a national security matter involving sensitive state-linked information.
One major point of dispute centers on the interpretation of Article 328 itself.
Defense lawyers and defendants argue that political espionage charges under Turkish law traditionally require evidence that information was obtained on behalf of or for the benefit of a foreign state or intelligence service.
Yanardag argued during his defense that the indictment failed to establish such a connection.
“They are trying to make an omelet without eggs,” the veteran journalist told the court, mocking what he described as the legal weakness of the prosecution’s case.
Another central dispute concerns the origin of the alleged leaked data.
Defense teams repeatedly argued that expert examinations already showed the relevant data had circulated online years before the 2019 election, with some allegedly uploaded to dark web forums between 2005 and 2017 by foreign hackers.
Ozkan argued that the technical foundation of the indictment had “collapsed,” while Imamoglu said court-appointed experts had already disproved key parts of the prosecution narrative.
The opposition has also linked the case to broader judicial pressure on municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), especially following the opposition’s strong performance in the 2024 local elections.
Turkish authorities reject accusations that the judiciary is acting politically.
Imamoglu delivered one of the most politically charged defenses of the hearings, repeatedly describing the case as “absurd,” “shameful,” and politically driven.
“If there were a museum of judicial shame documents in Türkiye, this indictment would be the first text hung on the wall,” Imamoglu told the court.
The former mayor rejected claims that he, Ozkan, and Yanardag could plausibly be involved in espionage activities, saying such accusations “cannot be explained through law, reason, or conscience.”
Referring to the prosecution’s allegation that the 2019 Istanbul election was manipulated in his favor, Imamoglu asked the court: “Is winning the Istanbul election now considered a crime?”
He argued that many of the meetings referenced in the indictment were routine congratulatory visits following his 2019 election victory and said all official meetings held at the municipality were properly documented.
Imamoglu also directly challenged MIT to publicly present evidence if espionage had truly occurred.
“If there is espionage, let them present even a single document,” he said.
The former mayor insisted he barely knew Gun and said the single photograph cited by prosecutors was taken during an ordinary congratulatory visit.
Necati Ozkan, Imamoglu’s longtime political adviser and campaign strategist, told the court he had only limited contact with Gun and described their interaction as brief and insignificant.
Ozkan said he met Gun only a handful of times and argued that prosecutors exaggerated ordinary mobile phone tower overlaps and routine communications into evidence of conspiracy.
He also claimed the alleged data leaks long predated the 2019 election and were linked to foreign hackers rather than the municipality or Imamoglu’s campaign.
Journalist Yanardag argued the case was designed both to silence TV channel TELE1 and to damage Imamoglu politically.
Yanardag said prosecutors attempted to create an impression of secrecy and espionage through unrelated company records and ordinary viewer donations made to TELE1.
Gun, whose digital records form the backbone of the indictment, denied all espionage accusations and presented himself as a businessman who had worked with Turkish authorities abroad following the 2016 failed coup attempt and the subsequent crackdown on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
During his defense, Gun claimed many of the foreign political, intelligence, and security-linked contacts cited by prosecutors were established as part of state-backed lobbying and anti-FETO activities carried out overseas.
He told the court that companies linked to him had been authorized in late 2016 to conduct international outreach and Türkiye-focused lobbying efforts abroad, claims that prosecutors have not publicly confirmed.
Gun also argued that several documents presented in the indictment as suspicious intelligence-related material, including reports labeled “Black Cell,” were in fact prepared for Turkish state institutions as part of efforts targeting the FETO.
Gun insisted his foreign contacts reflected work carried out “for the benefit of the state and country,” not espionage.
Gun claimed his brief contact with Ozkan involved an unpaid social media analysis based entirely on open-source information following the cancellation of the first 2019 Istanbul election.
“Trying to portray open-source analysis as espionage is irrational,” he told the court.
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The prosecution’s repeated focus on the 2019 Istanbul election reflects the symbolic importance of Imamoglu’s victory in Turkish politics.
Imamoglu’s victory ended more than two decades of rule in Istanbul by the conservative political movement and transformed the former district mayor into the country’s most prominent opposition figure.
After Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council annulled the initial March 2019 vote, Imamoglu won the rerun election by an even larger margin, further strengthening his political standing nationally.
The current indictment alleges that data analysis and perception operations helped shape that outcome, claims firmly rejected by the defense.
Imamoglu told the court that polling data from major Turkish survey companies already showed him leading before any alleged contact with Gun took place.
The next hearing in the espionage case is scheduled for July 6.
On the same day, Imamoglu is also expected to appear in a separate case tied to allegations surrounding his university diploma. If another ongoing municipality-related case proceeds as expected, the former mayor could effectively stand trial in three separate cases within a single day.
If convicted, Imamoglu and the other defendants could face lengthy prison sentences as well as political bans.
With Türkiye’s opposition already facing mounting legal pressure following the 2024 local elections, the espionage case is increasingly being viewed as a major test for the judiciary, electoral legitimacy and the future of the country’s opposition politics.
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