‘This process has turned into a form of torture’: inside the trial of Erdoğan’s challenger - The Audio Long Read

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all our long reads, go to theguardian.com longread this process has turned into a form of torture Inside the Trial of Erdoan's Challenger by Kaya Gench Read by Philip Isaac Arditti this piece first appeared in the Dial. There's a Turkish saying silivri Soktur Silivri is cold. You'll hear it from journalists, politicians and activists after they say something critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. The kind of comments that could send them to the notorious prison complex in Silivri, where it would take months before they saw a judge. For decades, Silivri was considered a sai fieri, a place for cottages, country and summer houses. All around the complex are small family run farms and villas with private pools protected by watchdogs. Construction of the Marmara prison complex began in 2005 and lasted three years. It contains eight closed correctional institutions and an open prison where the court is located. It is Europe's largest prison complex. Ekrem Imamol, the former mayor of istanbul, is now Silivri's most famous resident. He was detained on 19th March 2025, went on trial on 9th March 2026 and the case is expected to continue until early next year. No one I spoke to believes he will be acquitted. Imam Olu is Erdogan's greatest potential rival. In 2024, he won the Istanbul local elections handily with just over 51%. On 18 March 2025, three weeks after Imam Ol announced his candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections, Istanbul University annulled his college diploma, making him ineligible to run for political office in the country. The following morning, hundreds of police officers surrounded the mayoral residence. He has been accused of 142 offences, including leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, unlawfully obtaining personal data, aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, racketeering, interfering with public tenders and numerous other financial crimes that could lead to 2,430 years behind bars. In total, 104 other city officials were arrested. Yilmaz Tunkey's justice minister at the time denied that the government was putting pressure on the courts to prosecute Imamolu Akungirlek. The prosecutor who indicted Imamolu has since replaced Tun as the new justice minister. Imamolu's true crime, it seemed, was to have ended Erdogan's 25 year hold on Istanbul, which began when he was elected its mayor in 1994. Since then, Istanbul had only seen mayors from his AKP party and its forebears, the Welfare and Virtue parties. Imam olu's victory in 2019 marked a departure, handing the city over to the CHP, the main opposition party. He is a former football player who was the popular district mayor of Istanbul's Beyliktuzu municipality, where he built his brand as a hardworking progressive. His charisma allowed him to talk to pious and secular voters alike. Many Istanbulites shortened his name to Imam. His initiatives to combat child malnutrition and improve public transportation and public services solidified his social democratic credentials. Imam Olu's triumph led to street parties that continued until the next morning. Imamoglu's trial began on 9 March this year. More than 400 defendants are being tried in the case. 68 of them are currently detained. After reviewing the 3,739 page indictment submitted by Istanbul's lead prosecutor on 11 November 2025, the court said it aimed to complete the case in under 4,600 days, roughly 12 and a half years, though they now appear to be speeding through it. Furkan Karabay, a journalist who covers the case and recently published a memoir about the 201 days he spent in Silivri prison for his reporting, told me he expected Imamolu to testify in mid summer. The court case's length will probably prevent Imamola from running for office in the 2028 elections. On the first day of the trial, several opposition lawmakers who are professional lawyers showed up in the courtroom to show support alongside activists and members of the press. By the time I visited on 13 April, the courtroom seemed deserted. Silivri is 83km 52 miles away from my apartment in central Istanbul. It takes two hours to make it to the courthouse. Gendarmerie officers who operate in smaller towns had refused entry to reporters not holding turquoise press cards issued by Erdogan's Directorate of Communications. But they allowed me access. After perusing the press card that Artforum magazine annually dispatches to art critics from its offices in Manhattan, the young officer in the court was even more generous, handing me a badge that granted me access not only to the press room but also to the courtroom. I could sit there next to family members of Imamolu and other jailed defendants charged with membership in the Ekrem Imamolu criminal organization. The atmosphere was calm, so I headed to the press room in the morning. Bored gendarmerie officers there joked about the Galatasaray football match the previous night. Four sleepy court reporters proceedings had run until 10pm the previous evening from three wire agencies and one national newspaper had brought along meal boxes and an electric coffee pot that brewed their first Turkish coffees of the day. We watched as lawyers and family members entered the courtroom from an 85 inch wall screen. Reporters chatted about the dangers of Ozempik, a man who claimed to have lost 40 kg by squeezing lemon into his Turkish coffee, and the healthy habit of jumping rope. Why do we come here every day when our papers don't even use our reports? Complained one yawning. Imam Olu's lawyers entered the courtroom on the first floor. Then about a dozen defendants took their seats after climbing steps that led directly from the basement floor through a courtroom trapdoor. Relatives sitting in the stalls jumped up in excitement, waving and blowing kisses at their loved ones. The judge asked if anyone wanted to make a statement. Imamolu, sitting in the fifth row, stood up holding a microphone. It was 10:55am the chatty reporters sank into silence. This process has turned into a form of torture, imam Olu said in his opening statement. People who worked for him in the Istanbul municipality have been forgotten inside the prison like stones cast into a well. He called the case unbelievable and shameful and voiced his concerns about the families of the detained, whom he described as sufirmaschle zero income people. Although he will be the last defendant to take the stand. He is allowed to make statements in court daily. When detained last year, Imam Olla was offered his choice of lawyers. A member of his defence team, Mehmet Pehlevan, was then detained in June 2025, charged with money laundering. The gendarmerie officers kept a close eye on those seated in court, checking that no one was using their smartphone to film Imamolu. It's illegal to record proceedings in Turkey's courthouses. The judges have prosecuted those who share images or sound clips from proceedings in the past. That means the only people who could see the next presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition party, aside from his jailers, were those sitting in the court and the press room. The Turkish government has tried to stop Imam Olu's rise to national prominence since his first mayoral win in 2014 in the municipality of Beylik Duzu. Imam Olu's success led to his candidacy for Istanbul mayor in 2019, which he won first. Turkey's supreme election Council annulled the results of the election and insisted on a rerun. Imam Olu increased his vote by about 530,000. Then in 2022, a court convicted him to 31 months in prison for insulting officials from the Supreme Election Council. Imam Olle appealed against the ruling. After Imamola won the March 2024 mayoral elections in Istanbul with a comfortable margin of 10% over his opponent from the ruling party, the government's panic grew. Yamamolu had become a household name in national politics in only a few years, and that election indicated widespread dissatisfaction with Erdogan's party. Imam Olu's win against Erdoan's mayoral candidate of choice allowed Istanbulites like me to imagine a country not run by the akp. Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey, erdogan used to say. Ali Ay Jol, an associate professor of Ottoman and Turkish history at Stanford University, who who has worked as Imam Olu's ghost writer, landed in Istanbul on 18th March and was preparing to meet the mayor. The next day. After he went to bed, he got a call from a journalist friend telling him about the arrests, suggesting he should leave the country. At that moment, we didn't know what was happening. Nothing was clear, he told me. Jajol called a friend in Berlin to say he was on his way to Germany and headed to the airport. Imamolu was arrested the next day. Yajol first met Imamolu in 2020, when Imamolu called him to say he admired his newspaper columns on Turkish history. He wanted to take private lessons on history left wing ideas and world affairs from me, he said he needed to improve himself. They had 20 lessons and the mayor kept a special notebook for them. His mind was very open, very receptive. The things he learned stayed with him. Over time, the teacher student relationship turned into a friendship and Yajulu became part of Imamolu's inner circle. This was when the speechwriting job started. He was with Imamolu on the night of the March 2024 election and wrote his victory speech. The room was crowded and there was no table, so they sat and wrote it on the floor. When Yajola returned to Istanbul last March, it was to draft Imamolu speech for his presidential candidacy. But then there was talk of revoking his diploma. I knew something was going to happen. Yajciolu, who has not returned to Turkey since, started corresponding with Imamolu in prison. During this period, he wrote Imamolu's op EDS for media outlets including the Financial Times. When I spoke to him, he was working on Imamolu's defense from the campus of Harvard University as an advisor to his legal team. I am establishing the historical framework of the defence. It will be a very long text, he said. He wouldn't elaborate except to say that it would be a political defense. In September 2025, six months after his detention in the case for which he is currently being tried, Imamolu was convicted in the earlier case to two years and seven months in jail. The verdict resulted in what the Turkish law refers to asetyas, a ban on all future political activities. It may seem unrealistic in the wake of that decision to think Imam Olu can still run for president in 2028. But he has appealed against the verdict and Yagatai, the Supreme Court can still overturn it in the.
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Thanks for listening to the Guardian long read. We'll be back after this.
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[17:24]
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welcome back to the Guardian, Long read. Imam Olu had been a savvy social media operator from the start of his career. This has allowed him to remain part of the daily lives of Istanbulites despite his physical disappearance from the public sphere after his arrest. Images of Imamolu on billboards placed on highways and in subway stations, and on posters put up on the sides of construction sites and buildings remained in the city for a few weeks. But after massive protests against Imamolu's arrest, the Interior Ministry ordered the city's police department to remove posters and banners belonging to Imamolu and other detained opposition members. This attempt to disappear the mayor from the public sphere extended to social media too. Between May 2025 and March 2026, Imamolu's X account was withheld five times, forcing his team to find alternative handles. In June 2025, CHP announced it would employ artificial intelligence and holograms in its presidential campaign for imam Olu. An AI generated video message released on YouTube in September 2025 shows Imamolu with an image of Ataturk saying, neither pressures nor obstacles nor dark schemes will stop this march because we are right, because we are the people, because we are the republic. In March, Imamolo told the court he hoped Turkey would have a female president. The statement set off rumors that his wife, Dilek Imamolu, may run in his place in the 2028 elections. In court, Imamolu looked well dressed in a dark suit and a tie. He was surrounded by young gendarmerie officers looking at their phones. The previous week, he said, a prosecutor had told him, if you don't know your place, we'll teach it to you. He asked rhetorically who was behind this threat and reminded the court that the people are behind me. There was applause from the stalls. The atmosphere in the courtroom has often been tense. On two occasions, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared and adjourned the case. On 9th March, when Imamolu wanted to greet those in the courtroom at the start of the hearing, the presiding judge switched off his microphone and instructed the gendarmerie to remove him from the courtroom. On 12 March, the judge sought to change the journalist's seating arrangement in court after scolding them for asking Imamolu questions during a hearing. After reporters resisted, the judge ended the hearing early. In another hearing, Imamolo objected to being carried from his cell to the courtroom like a ping pong ball. Today, the antagonism between the defendants and the system judging them took the shape of civilized disagreement. Imam Olu's candidacy to be Turkey's next president has inevitably turned him into the central figure in the hearings. But his private secretary, his security manager and his chief of staff were all arrested alongside him last year, as were the deputy secretary general of Istanbul Municipality and the head of the city's water company. Every day, one defendant presents their defenses in court, answers questions from prosecutors and hopes to convince the judge to release them. Each defendant present in court is allowed to react to statements made in the proceedings. After Imamol made his statement and sat down, his campaign manager, Necati Erskan, took to the stand. Erskan is one of the key figures of the case. He is charged with membership in an organization established for the purpose of committing crimes, which carries a potential sentence of up to six years in prison. He is also named in the investigation in connection with facilitating bribery and illegally recording, providing or obtaining personal data. A self described Obama fan, he has published a book called Obama's Leadership Secrets. Uskan has often compared the CHP's journey with that of famous heroes. In his 2019 book Kahramanan Yol Julu Yiny the Hero's the Triumph of New Generation Politics, he explains how he and Imamolu built their campaign, inspired by figures such as Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings and Neo from the Matrix. Dressed in a suit like Imamolo, erskine handed a 243 page dossier to the judge containing details of the financial transactions of his advertisement business. Erskine argued that he was a professional who devoted his life to his work. His financial transactions were normal in this line of work. He asked to play a clip from the successful campaign video he shot for Imamolu. When the judge refused, he described its script in detail. The ad showed Istanbul's natural and architectural beauties, from the Bosphorus and the Hagia Sophia to the curvaceous Kamondo steps built by the Ottoman Venetian Jewish banker Abraham salomon Kamondo in 1880, while a singer on the soundtrack this love is yours Two shores, seven hills, this strait, this bay, this city is yours, the past is yours, the future is yours. A new life, a brand new beginning is yours. The decision is yours. Istanbul is yours. The ad had reminded voters they weren't passive bystanders and consumers and that they could actively help run the city through democratic means. Imam Oll appears at the end and smiles silently. The campaign motto Hershe chok Gzerulaq Everything will be fine now sounded sad. Erskine was methodical in his defense, addressing each claim in detail, trying to convince the judge of his innocence. He did not raise his voice or show signs of anger. Only once did he express a sense of deep wariness. They claimed two times two equals purple, he said. If they said two times two equaled five, I could have tried to correct it. But how can I correct this? The court recessed.
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[25:03]
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Imam Olu's case isn't exceptional Turkish prosecutors have opened investigations against opposition held municipalities around the country. Every week there is news of fresh arrests of CHB mayors at the district and city levels. When they are arrested, the positions are often filled by their deputies. Nouri Aslan, Imamolu's former deputy, now runs Istanbul. In the city's Esanyurt and Sishli districts, the government has appointed Kayyims trustees to replace detained CHP mayors. Ezgi Ba Sharan, a scholar at Oxford University, calculated that 30 municipalities in Turkey, representing 28 million people, are run by politicians not elected by their citizens. Because of these arrests between the local elections in March 2024 and May 2026, 76 mayors from different parties, including 17 from CHP, joined the AKP, allegedly to escape the fate of Imamolu. Court cases against the CHP have also targeted the party's leadership. On 21 May, the Turkish Court of Appeals annulled the CHP's November 2023 leadership election results in order to restore a politician who was hostile to imam Olu. On 24 May, riot police stormed the CHP's headquarters in Ankara, using tear gas to break into the building to evict its ousted leadership. Despite or perhaps because of the torrent of cases against CHP politicians, attention is fading. In 2025, 65% of Turks said they believed Imam Olu's arrest was unfair, but the number dropped to less than 50% this year. The Turkish lira, which collapsed after Imamoda's arrest and required the Turkish central bank to spend 50 $50 billion to support it, has somewhat stabilized. Maybe that's why, although there is still widespread dissatisfaction with the government, it appears muted fatigue seems to have set in among opposition supporters. Imamolu's rise and fall resemble that of Erdogan, who was himself elected Istanbul's mayor in 1994 and placed in a cell just five years later, as he was becoming increasingly popular. He was charged with discriminating against people based on religion and race and inciting kinship and enmity among them for reciting a poem. The four months Erdogan spent in Panarhisar prison, not far from Silivri, boosted his popularity even further. Supporters queued up outside the prison to show their support. Once released in July 1999, Erdogan was welcomed as a prospective national leader and became prime minister less than four years later. But Imam Olu has already spent more than a year in pre trial detention. He is unlikely to walk out of Slivery as long as Erdogan is in power. After the court recessed, I had lunch at the courthouse cafeteria, where lawyers, journalists and families of the imprisoned congregated. I bought a muffin whose packaging announced it was homemade by the Marmora prisoners themselves. I asked a server wearing a white uniform like all others whether he was a convict. He was, he told me, as were all the cooks and cleaners. Outside the prison. The sun was beaming. The fields shone in their vivid colors. Huge windmills nearby turned with great force as I headed home, thinking of Imamolu's parting words before the court recessed. Good things are happening around us, said the former mayor, addressing the journalists in court. He was referring to Viktor Orban's ouster after 16 years in power as Hungary's prime minister the previous day. Long live democracy. Long live justice. Long live the Republic. He shouted before disappearing through the courtroom's trapdoor. Thanks again for listening to the Guardian long read that was this process has turned into a form of torture. Inside the trial of Erdogan's challenger by Kaya Gench read by Philip Isaac Arditti and produced by Nicola Alexandru. The executive producer was Elizabeth Kassin. This piece first appeared in the Dial with the headline the Hologram Candidate. For more Guardian longreads in text and a selection in audio, visit theguardian.com longread and to purchase a beautifully illustrated collection of our finest stories in print, visit guardianbookshop.com. This is the Guardian.
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Summary5 min read

Episode Summary:

“This Process Has Turned Into a Form of Torture: Inside the Trial of Erdoğan’s Challenger”

Podcast: The Audio Long Read (The Guardian)
Date: August 3, 2026
Story by: Kaya Genç | Read by: Philip Isaac Arditti

Episode Overview

This episode examines the ongoing trial of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s former mayor and the strongest challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hold on Turkish politics. Through interviews, first-hand courtroom observations, and historical context, the episode unpacks the myriad charges against İmamoğlu, the highly politicized judiciary, and the chilling impact these proceedings have on Turkish opposition and democracy.
The narrative not only documents the specifics of İmamoğlu’s case, but also draws powerful parallels with Erdoğan’s own political ascent and repression, offering a stark look at Turkey’s evolving authoritarian landscape.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Silivri Prison: A Symbol of Political Repression

Silivri—once a site of summer houses, now Europe’s largest prison complex—is where political dissidents and critics of Erdoğan’s regime are routinely detained ([03:02-05:10]).
The Turkish saying “Silivri is cold” is regularly invoked among journalists and activists as shorthand for the risks of criticizing the government.

2. Who is Ekrem İmamoğlu?

Profile: Former district mayor and footballer, Mayor of Istanbul since 2019, known for charisma and cross-societal appeal.
Made significant social-democratic reforms in Istanbul: combating child malnutrition, improving public services ([05:56-06:40]).
Rise to National Challenge: His landslide victories in 2019 and 2024 made him Erdoğan’s most formidable rival. His candidacy for president in 2028 catalyzed state repression ([06:41-07:23]).

3. Arrest and Charges

University diploma annulled (March 2025) → made ineligible to run for office ([04:46-05:30]).
Arrested the morning after (March 19, 2025) on 142 charges: leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, data crime, aiding the PKK, racketeering, etc.—potential 2,430 years in prison ([04:51-05:52]).
104 other city officials arrested; over 400 defendants in the case ([06:15-06:53]).

4. Courtroom Realities and Atmosphere

Reporter’s journey: 2-hour trip, difficulty accessing the court under media restrictions ([08:06-08:46]).
Atmosphere alternates between tense showdowns and mundane routine; gendarmerie officers monitor proceedings, restrict technology ([09:28-10:30]).
Most press seats empty by April; interest fading as the long trial drags on ([07:59-08:18]).
Court’s aim: Complete the case in under 4,600 days (~12.5 years), though timeline uncertain ([06:45-06:55]).

5. İmamoğlu’s Voice from Court

Notable Quote: “This process has turned into a form of torture.” – Ekrem İmamoğlu ([10:55])
Frequently speaks out for his co-defendants: “People who worked for him in the Istanbul municipality have been forgotten inside the prison like stones cast into a well.” ([11:03-11:13])
Speaks daily in court but will be the last defendant to testify ([11:15-11:32]).

6. Support System, Reprisals, and Legal Defense

Defense lawyer detained (June 2025) on corruption charges ([12:03]).
Tight surveillance and prosecution for sharing court audio/video ([12:08]).
Ali Yaycıoğlu, historian and former ghost-writer for İmamoğlu, fled Turkey after the arrest, now helps with defense from Harvard ([13:35-14:38]).
- “His mind was very open, very receptive. The things he learned stayed with him.” ([14:13-14:25])
- Working on a “very long... political defense.”

7. Governing by Exclusion and Suppression

Past pattern: victories → government annulments → increased crackdowns ([12:40-13:10]).
Social media erasure: Accounts suspended, posters ordered removed, attempts to make İmamoğlu “disappear” from public view ([17:24-18:40]).
CHP response:
- Innovated with hologram and AI campaign content ([18:45]).
- İmamoğlu’s message: “Neither pressures nor obstacles nor dark schemes will stop this march because we are right, because we are the people, because we are the republic.” – AI-generated İmamoğlu ([19:00-19:10])

8. Widening Crackdown on the Opposition

Widespread prosecutions of non-AKP mayors and officials; 30 municipalities (28 million citizens) governed by unelected trustees ([25:25-25:57]).
Many CHP and other opposition officials switch allegiance under duress: “76 mayors joined the AKP, allegedly to escape the fate of İmamoğlu.” ([26:14-26:32])
Fatigue and resignation among public and opposition; belief in the fairness of İmamoğlu’s arrest dropped from 65% → under 50% ([26:53-27:12]).

9. Historical Parallels and Long-Term Impact

Parallels to Erdoğan’s early career: imprisoned in 1999, public adulation rises, becomes PM ([27:37-28:18]).
But hope for a repeat with İmamoğlu is slim: “He is unlikely to walk out of Silivri as long as Erdoğan is in power.” ([28:26-28:43])
İmamoğlu’s Parting Words:
- “Good things are happening around us... Long live democracy. Long live justice. Long live the Republic.” – Ekrem İmamoğlu, before leaving the courtroom ([29:09-29:36])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“This process has turned into a form of torture.” – İmamoğlu, opening courtroom statement ([10:55])
“People who worked for him… have been forgotten inside the prison like stones cast into a well.” – İmamoğlu ([11:09])
“If you don’t know your place, we’ll teach it to you.” – Reported threat from prosecutor to İmamoğlu ([20:30])
“They claimed two times two equals purple... If they said two times two equalled five, I could have tried to correct it. But how can I correct this?” – Necati Erşkan, İmamoğlu’s campaign manager ([24:00])
“Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey, Erdoğan used to say.” ([13:16])
“Long live democracy. Long live justice. Long live the Republic.” – İmamoğlu, addressing journalists as he exited ([29:25])

Timestamps for Key Segments

Silivri Prison and the Nature of Turkish Repression: 03:02–05:10
Profile and Rise of İmamoğlu: 05:56–07:23
Arrest, Charges, and Crackdown: 04:46–05:52, 06:15–06:53
Observing the Courtroom: 08:06–10:30
İmamoğlu’s Statement & Courtroom Quotes: 10:55–11:32
Ali Yaycıoğlu on İmamoğlu, Defense Strategy: 13:35–14:38
CHP’s AI/Hologram Strategies and Social Media Tactics: 17:24–19:10
Broader Crackdown and Mayor Impositions: 25:25–26:32
Historical Parallels with Erdoğan: 27:37–28:43
İmamoğlu’s Farewell and Rallying Message: 29:09–29:36

Tone and Language

The story is detailed, dispassionate, and analytic—rich in narrative description with undercurrents of outrage and irony. İmamoğlu is presented as dignified and unbowed, while the justice system appears methodically oppressive. Supporters and acquaintances respond with sadness, fatigue, or determined loyalty, imbuing the coverage with both immediacy and resignation.

Final Takeaway

The episode is a stark, empathetic exploration of how Erdoğan’s regime has weaponized legal processes to silence political threats. The saga of İmamoğlu—charismatic yet persecuted—becomes a lens on the state of Turkish democracy, public resistance, and the fate met by those who dare to challenge power. Despite exhaustion and repression, voices like İmamoğlu’s persist in invoking justice and hope, even as they vanish from the public square.

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[00:00]
Guardian Narrator
This is the Guardian.
[00:09]
Narrator/Reporter
Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where Aura comes in. Aura actively removes your data from broker sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But Aura goes beyond data protection. With one app you get a vpn, antivirus, password manager, spam, call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. All backed by 24, 7 US based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or just a vpn. Aura gives you all of it together at the same price. Competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at aura.com safety protect yourself now@aura.com safety.
[01:21]
Guardian Narrator
Welcome to the Guardian Long Read showcasing the best long form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking.
[01:29]
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For the text version of this and
[01:31]
Guardian Narrator
all our long reads, go to theguardian.com longread this process has turned into a form of torture Inside the Trial of Erdoan's Challenger by Kaya Gench Read by Philip Isaac Arditti this piece first appeared in the Dial. There's a Turkish saying silivri Soktur Silivri is cold. You'll hear it from journalists, politicians and activists after they say something critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. The kind of comments that could send them to the notorious prison complex in Silivri, where it would take months before they saw a judge. For decades, Silivri was considered a sai fieri, a place for cottages, country and summer houses. All around the complex are small family run farms and villas with private pools protected by watchdogs. Construction of the Marmara prison complex began in 2005 and lasted three years. It contains eight closed correctional institutions and an open prison where the court is located. It is Europe's largest prison complex. Ekrem Imamol, the former mayor of istanbul, is now Silivri's most famous resident. He was detained on 19th March 2025, went on trial on 9th March 2026 and the case is expected to continue until early next year. No one I spoke to believes he will be acquitted. Imam Olu is Erdogan's greatest potential rival. In 2024, he won the Istanbul local elections handily with just over 51%. On 18 March 2025, three weeks after Imam Ol announced his candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections, Istanbul University annulled his college diploma, making him ineligible to run for political office in the country. The following morning, hundreds of police officers surrounded the mayoral residence. He has been accused of 142 offences, including leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, unlawfully obtaining personal data, aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, racketeering, interfering with public tenders and numerous other financial crimes that could lead to 2,430 years behind bars. In total, 104 other city officials were arrested. Yilmaz Tunkey's justice minister at the time denied that the government was putting pressure on the courts to prosecute Imamolu Akungirlek. The prosecutor who indicted Imamolu has since replaced Tun as the new justice minister. Imamolu's true crime, it seemed, was to have ended Erdogan's 25 year hold on Istanbul, which began when he was elected its mayor in 1994. Since then, Istanbul had only seen mayors from his AKP party and its forebears, the Welfare and Virtue parties. Imam olu's victory in 2019 marked a departure, handing the city over to the CHP, the main opposition party. He is a former football player who was the popular district mayor of Istanbul's Beyliktuzu municipality, where he built his brand as a hardworking progressive. His charisma allowed him to talk to pious and secular voters alike. Many Istanbulites shortened his name to Imam. His initiatives to combat child malnutrition and improve public transportation and public services solidified his social democratic credentials. Imam Olu's triumph led to street parties that continued until the next morning. Imamoglu's trial began on 9 March this year. More than 400 defendants are being tried in the case. 68 of them are currently detained. After reviewing the 3,739 page indictment submitted by Istanbul's lead prosecutor on 11 November 2025, the court said it aimed to complete the case in under 4,600 days, roughly 12 and a half years, though they now appear to be speeding through it. Furkan Karabay, a journalist who covers the case and recently published a memoir about the 201 days he spent in Silivri prison for his reporting, told me he expected Imamolu to testify in mid summer. The court case's length will probably prevent Imamola from running for office in the 2028 elections. On the first day of the trial, several opposition lawmakers who are professional lawyers showed up in the courtroom to show support alongside activists and members of the press. By the time I visited on 13 April, the courtroom seemed deserted. Silivri is 83km 52 miles away from my apartment in central Istanbul. It takes two hours to make it to the courthouse. Gendarmerie officers who operate in smaller towns had refused entry to reporters not holding turquoise press cards issued by Erdogan's Directorate of Communications. But they allowed me access. After perusing the press card that Artforum magazine annually dispatches to art critics from its offices in Manhattan, the young officer in the court was even more generous, handing me a badge that granted me access not only to the press room but also to the courtroom. I could sit there next to family members of Imamolu and other jailed defendants charged with membership in the Ekrem Imamolu criminal organization. The atmosphere was calm, so I headed to the press room in the morning. Bored gendarmerie officers there joked about the Galatasaray football match the previous night. Four sleepy court reporters proceedings had run until 10pm the previous evening from three wire agencies and one national newspaper had brought along meal boxes and an electric coffee pot that brewed their first Turkish coffees of the day. We watched as lawyers and family members entered the courtroom from an 85 inch wall screen. Reporters chatted about the dangers of Ozempik, a man who claimed to have lost 40 kg by squeezing lemon into his Turkish coffee, and the healthy habit of jumping rope. Why do we come here every day when our papers don't even use our reports? Complained one yawning. Imam Olu's lawyers entered the courtroom on the first floor. Then about a dozen defendants took their seats after climbing steps that led directly from the basement floor through a courtroom trapdoor. Relatives sitting in the stalls jumped up in excitement, waving and blowing kisses at their loved ones. The judge asked if anyone wanted to make a statement. Imamolu, sitting in the fifth row, stood up holding a microphone. It was 10:55am the chatty reporters sank into silence. This process has turned into a form of torture, imam Olu said in his opening statement. People who worked for him in the Istanbul municipality have been forgotten inside the prison like stones cast into a well. He called the case unbelievable and shameful and voiced his concerns about the families of the detained, whom he described as sufirmaschle zero income people. Although he will be the last defendant to take the stand. He is allowed to make statements in court daily. When detained last year, Imam Olla was offered his choice of lawyers. A member of his defence team, Mehmet Pehlevan, was then detained in June 2025, charged with money laundering. The gendarmerie officers kept a close eye on those seated in court, checking that no one was using their smartphone to film Imamolu. It's illegal to record proceedings in Turkey's courthouses. The judges have prosecuted those who share images or sound clips from proceedings in the past. That means the only people who could see the next presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition party, aside from his jailers, were those sitting in the court and the press room. The Turkish government has tried to stop Imam Olu's rise to national prominence since his first mayoral win in 2014 in the municipality of Beylik Duzu. Imam Olu's success led to his candidacy for Istanbul mayor in 2019, which he won first. Turkey's supreme election Council annulled the results of the election and insisted on a rerun. Imam Olu increased his vote by about 530,000. Then in 2022, a court convicted him to 31 months in prison for insulting officials from the Supreme Election Council. Imam Olle appealed against the ruling. After Imamola won the March 2024 mayoral elections in Istanbul with a comfortable margin of 10% over his opponent from the ruling party, the government's panic grew. Yamamolu had become a household name in national politics in only a few years, and that election indicated widespread dissatisfaction with Erdogan's party. Imam Olu's win against Erdoan's mayoral candidate of choice allowed Istanbulites like me to imagine a country not run by the akp. Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey, erdogan used to say. Ali Ay Jol, an associate professor of Ottoman and Turkish history at Stanford University, who who has worked as Imam Olu's ghost writer, landed in Istanbul on 18th March and was preparing to meet the mayor. The next day. After he went to bed, he got a call from a journalist friend telling him about the arrests, suggesting he should leave the country. At that moment, we didn't know what was happening. Nothing was clear, he told me. Jajol called a friend in Berlin to say he was on his way to Germany and headed to the airport. Imamolu was arrested the next day. Yajol first met Imamolu in 2020, when Imamolu called him to say he admired his newspaper columns on Turkish history. He wanted to take private lessons on history left wing ideas and world affairs from me, he said he needed to improve himself. They had 20 lessons and the mayor kept a special notebook for them. His mind was very open, very receptive. The things he learned stayed with him. Over time, the teacher student relationship turned into a friendship and Yajulu became part of Imamolu's inner circle. This was when the speechwriting job started. He was with Imamolu on the night of the March 2024 election and wrote his victory speech. The room was crowded and there was no table, so they sat and wrote it on the floor. When Yajola returned to Istanbul last March, it was to draft Imamolu speech for his presidential candidacy. But then there was talk of revoking his diploma. I knew something was going to happen. Yajciolu, who has not returned to Turkey since, started corresponding with Imamolu in prison. During this period, he wrote Imamolu's op EDS for media outlets including the Financial Times. When I spoke to him, he was working on Imamolu's defense from the campus of Harvard University as an advisor to his legal team. I am establishing the historical framework of the defence. It will be a very long text, he said. He wouldn't elaborate except to say that it would be a political defense. In September 2025, six months after his detention in the case for which he is currently being tried, Imamolu was convicted in the earlier case to two years and seven months in jail. The verdict resulted in what the Turkish law refers to asetyas, a ban on all future political activities. It may seem unrealistic in the wake of that decision to think Imam Olu can still run for president in 2028. But he has appealed against the verdict and Yagatai, the Supreme Court can still overturn it in the.
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Guardian Narrator
Thanks for listening to the Guardian long read. We'll be back after this.
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Guardian Narrator
welcome back to the Guardian, Long read. Imam Olu had been a savvy social media operator from the start of his career. This has allowed him to remain part of the daily lives of Istanbulites despite his physical disappearance from the public sphere after his arrest. Images of Imamolu on billboards placed on highways and in subway stations, and on posters put up on the sides of construction sites and buildings remained in the city for a few weeks. But after massive protests against Imamolu's arrest, the Interior Ministry ordered the city's police department to remove posters and banners belonging to Imamolu and other detained opposition members. This attempt to disappear the mayor from the public sphere extended to social media too. Between May 2025 and March 2026, Imamolu's X account was withheld five times, forcing his team to find alternative handles. In June 2025, CHP announced it would employ artificial intelligence and holograms in its presidential campaign for imam Olu. An AI generated video message released on YouTube in September 2025 shows Imamolu with an image of Ataturk saying, neither pressures nor obstacles nor dark schemes will stop this march because we are right, because we are the people, because we are the republic. In March, Imamolo told the court he hoped Turkey would have a female president. The statement set off rumors that his wife, Dilek Imamolu, may run in his place in the 2028 elections. In court, Imamolu looked well dressed in a dark suit and a tie. He was surrounded by young gendarmerie officers looking at their phones. The previous week, he said, a prosecutor had told him, if you don't know your place, we'll teach it to you. He asked rhetorically who was behind this threat and reminded the court that the people are behind me. There was applause from the stalls. The atmosphere in the courtroom has often been tense. On two occasions, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared and adjourned the case. On 9th March, when Imamolu wanted to greet those in the courtroom at the start of the hearing, the presiding judge switched off his microphone and instructed the gendarmerie to remove him from the courtroom. On 12 March, the judge sought to change the journalist's seating arrangement in court after scolding them for asking Imamolu questions during a hearing. After reporters resisted, the judge ended the hearing early. In another hearing, Imamolo objected to being carried from his cell to the courtroom like a ping pong ball. Today, the antagonism between the defendants and the system judging them took the shape of civilized disagreement. Imam Olu's candidacy to be Turkey's next president has inevitably turned him into the central figure in the hearings. But his private secretary, his security manager and his chief of staff were all arrested alongside him last year, as were the deputy secretary general of Istanbul Municipality and the head of the city's water company. Every day, one defendant presents their defenses in court, answers questions from prosecutors and hopes to convince the judge to release them. Each defendant present in court is allowed to react to statements made in the proceedings. After Imamol made his statement and sat down, his campaign manager, Necati Erskan, took to the stand. Erskan is one of the key figures of the case. He is charged with membership in an organization established for the purpose of committing crimes, which carries a potential sentence of up to six years in prison. He is also named in the investigation in connection with facilitating bribery and illegally recording, providing or obtaining personal data. A self described Obama fan, he has published a book called Obama's Leadership Secrets. Uskan has often compared the CHP's journey with that of famous heroes. In his 2019 book Kahramanan Yol Julu Yiny the Hero's the Triumph of New Generation Politics, he explains how he and Imamolu built their campaign, inspired by figures such as Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings and Neo from the Matrix. Dressed in a suit like Imamolo, erskine handed a 243 page dossier to the judge containing details of the financial transactions of his advertisement business. Erskine argued that he was a professional who devoted his life to his work. His financial transactions were normal in this line of work. He asked to play a clip from the successful campaign video he shot for Imamolu. When the judge refused, he described its script in detail. The ad showed Istanbul's natural and architectural beauties, from the Bosphorus and the Hagia Sophia to the curvaceous Kamondo steps built by the Ottoman Venetian Jewish banker Abraham salomon Kamondo in 1880, while a singer on the soundtrack this love is yours Two shores, seven hills, this strait, this bay, this city is yours, the past is yours, the future is yours. A new life, a brand new beginning is yours. The decision is yours. Istanbul is yours. The ad had reminded voters they weren't passive bystanders and consumers and that they could actively help run the city through democratic means. Imam Oll appears at the end and smiles silently. The campaign motto Hershe chok Gzerulaq Everything will be fine now sounded sad. Erskine was methodical in his defense, addressing each claim in detail, trying to convince the judge of his innocence. He did not raise his voice or show signs of anger. Only once did he express a sense of deep wariness. They claimed two times two equals purple, he said. If they said two times two equaled five, I could have tried to correct it. But how can I correct this? The court recessed.
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Guardian Narrator
Imam Olu's case isn't exceptional Turkish prosecutors have opened investigations against opposition held municipalities around the country. Every week there is news of fresh arrests of CHB mayors at the district and city levels. When they are arrested, the positions are often filled by their deputies. Nouri Aslan, Imamolu's former deputy, now runs Istanbul. In the city's Esanyurt and Sishli districts, the government has appointed Kayyims trustees to replace detained CHP mayors. Ezgi Ba Sharan, a scholar at Oxford University, calculated that 30 municipalities in Turkey, representing 28 million people, are run by politicians not elected by their citizens. Because of these arrests between the local elections in March 2024 and May 2026, 76 mayors from different parties, including 17 from CHP, joined the AKP, allegedly to escape the fate of Imamolu. Court cases against the CHP have also targeted the party's leadership. On 21 May, the Turkish Court of Appeals annulled the CHP's November 2023 leadership election results in order to restore a politician who was hostile to imam Olu. On 24 May, riot police stormed the CHP's headquarters in Ankara, using tear gas to break into the building to evict its ousted leadership. Despite or perhaps because of the torrent of cases against CHP politicians, attention is fading. In 2025, 65% of Turks said they believed Imam Olu's arrest was unfair, but the number dropped to less than 50% this year. The Turkish lira, which collapsed after Imamoda's arrest and required the Turkish central bank to spend 50 $50 billion to support it, has somewhat stabilized. Maybe that's why, although there is still widespread dissatisfaction with the government, it appears muted fatigue seems to have set in among opposition supporters. Imamolu's rise and fall resemble that of Erdogan, who was himself elected Istanbul's mayor in 1994 and placed in a cell just five years later, as he was becoming increasingly popular. He was charged with discriminating against people based on religion and race and inciting kinship and enmity among them for reciting a poem. The four months Erdogan spent in Panarhisar prison, not far from Silivri, boosted his popularity even further. Supporters queued up outside the prison to show their support. Once released in July 1999, Erdogan was welcomed as a prospective national leader and became prime minister less than four years later. But Imam Olu has already spent more than a year in pre trial detention. He is unlikely to walk out of Slivery as long as Erdogan is in power. After the court recessed, I had lunch at the courthouse cafeteria, where lawyers, journalists and families of the imprisoned congregated. I bought a muffin whose packaging announced it was homemade by the Marmora prisoners themselves. I asked a server wearing a white uniform like all others whether he was a convict. He was, he told me, as were all the cooks and cleaners. Outside the prison. The sun was beaming. The fields shone in their vivid colors. Huge windmills nearby turned with great force as I headed home, thinking of Imamolu's parting words before the court recessed. Good things are happening around us, said the former mayor, addressing the journalists in court. He was referring to Viktor Orban's ouster after 16 years in power as Hungary's prime minister the previous day. Long live democracy. Long live justice. Long live the Republic. He shouted before disappearing through the courtroom's trapdoor. Thanks again for listening to the Guardian long read that was this process has turned into a form of torture. Inside the trial of Erdogan's challenger by Kaya Gench read by Philip Isaac Arditti and produced by Nicola Alexandru. The executive producer was Elizabeth Kassin. This piece first appeared in the Dial with the headline the Hologram Candidate. For more Guardian longreads in text and a selection in audio, visit theguardian.com longread and to purchase a beautifully illustrated collection of our finest stories in print, visit guardianbookshop.com. This is the Guardian.
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