In recent years, as he mismanaged the economy, failed to control inflation, and turned increasingly autocratic, voters have rebuked Erdogan and his party. In 2024, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), founded by Ataturk and led at the time by Ozgur Ozel, scored big wins in local elections. Ekrem Imamoglu, a young, charismatic CHP politician, won the mayoral election in Istanbul, where Erdogan had served as mayor in the 1990s.
Erdogan historically answers setbacks for his party by making life difficult for challengers. Criminal investigations have led to the arrests of hundreds of opposition politicians, charges that rights groups and the CHP claim were politically motivated. Imamoglu, who was positioning himself as a challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential election, was arrested in 2025 on corruption charges that carry a combined sentence of more than 2,300 years. He has been behind bars awaiting trial for more than a year.
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