Ekrem İmamoğlu is a Turkish politician serving as the 32nd and current Mayor of Istanbul since 2019. He was first elected in the March 2019 mayoral election as the joint Nation Alliance candidate of the Republican People's Party and the İYİ Party, but served only from 17 April 2019 until 6 May 2019, when the election was annulled. He was then reelected in a renewed election on 23 June 2019. He had previously been the Mayor of Beylikdüzü, a western district of Istanbul, between 2014 and 2019. İmamoğlu emerged as a dark horse candidate to be the Nation Alliance's joint candidate for Istanbul Mayor, overtaking more prominent contenders such as Muharrem İnce, the CHP's 2018 presidential candidate. On the eve of the elections, İmamoğlu gained a narrow lead in the mayoral race, with initial results showing his lead to be around 23,000 votes. His lead was eventually cut to 13,729 after a series of recounts backed by the government. İmamoğlu was sworn in as Mayor of Istanbul on 17 April, following the conclusion of all recounts. On 6 May 2019, the Supreme Electoral Council convened and voted to annul the results of the mayoral election. Members of the Council accepted the Justice and Development Party's objection to the local election results in Istanbul with seven members voting in favor of calling a new election and four against. The election board also cancelled İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. A new election took place on 23 June 2019 in which İmamoğlu was re-elected as the mayor by a margin of approximately 800,000 votes. He was sworn into office on 27 June 2019. Because of the scale of his victory, he has been called a possible candidate for the Turkish presidency in the next elections.
Early life
İmamoğlu was born in June 1970, in the town of Akçaabat, west of the city Trabzon, in Turkey. During early childhood, he lived in the rural communities Cevizli and Yıldızlı, southwest of Akçaabat. He graduated from Trabzon High School, where he played amateur soccer and handball. In 1987 his family moved to Istanbul. He attended Istanbul University, and received a Bachelor's degree in business administration and a Master's degree in human resource management. Following his graduation, he joined his family's business in construction. In 1995, he married Dilek Kaya, and together they have three children. In 2002 he became a manager with Trabzonspor, and he was also a vice president of the Trabzonspor B.K. basketball team.
Political career
İmamoğlu joined the Republican People's Party in 2008, and was elected as the head of the party's youth wing in 2009. On 16 September 2009, he was selected by the CHP as the president of party's local chapter in the Istanbul district of Beylikdüzü. He was then reelected to this position on 8 March 2012, before resigning on 15 July 2013 to run for mayor of Beylikdüzü. The election was held on 30 March 2014, as part of the 2014 Turkish local elections, and İmamoğlu won with 50.44% of the vote, defeating the incumbent AKP candidate Yusuf Uzun. Following the announcement of Istanbul Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş's resignation on 23 September 2017, İmamoğlu was nominated by the CHP to replace him. In the Istanbul Municipal Assembly election to fulfill the remainder of Topbaş's term, İmamoğlu lost to the AKP candidate Mevlüt Uysal after three rounds, by a mostly party-line vote of 125 to 179.
2019 mayoral elections
The CHP again nominated İmamoğlu for the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election on 18 December 2018. Both the İyi Party, which formed an alliance with the CHP, and Peoples' Democratic Party declined to nominate candidates, which may have increased support for İmamoğlu. In the run-up to the elections, his campaign received worldwide attention for its mild-mannered and unifying approach, resulting in a narrowing of opinion polls against his rival, People's Alliance candidate Binali Yıldırım. The election was held on 31 March 2019, with İmamoğlu defeating AK Party candidate Binali Yıldırım by roughly 25,000 votes according to the election day totals released by the Supreme Electoral Council. Following his upset victory in which the ruling AKP significantly outspent him and received more media coverage, İmamoğlu was called a rising star in Turkish politics and a potential candidate to challenge Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 Turkish presidential election. The AK Party disputed the election results on behalf of its candidate, alleging that invalid votes may have swayed the election, and erected large posters in the city proclaiming Yıldırım as the election's winner. İmamoğlu, in turn, accused the AK Party of being "bad losers." Following a government-backed recount, İmamoğlu's lead was reduced to roughly 16,000 votes. İmamoğlu was sworn in as Mayor of Istanbul on 17 April, 17 days after the election, following the conclusion of all recounts. His mayoral tenure came to an end when on 6 May 2019, the Supreme Electoral Council annulled the results of the election and removed him as Mayor of Istanbul. According to the YSK, the decision was taken because some presiding officers and polling staff were not civil servants. Turkish law stipulates they must be civil servants. However, many have called this action as a move to undo the will of the voters, who handed a narrow but fiercely contested victory to the opposition candidate. Ali Yerlikaya was named as the interim mayor by the Interior Ministry of Turkey on 7 May 2019. A new election was held on 23 June 2019, in which İmamoğlu was re-elected as the mayor of Istanbul. Following his second loss to İmamoğlu, Yıldırım conceded defeat and also congratulated İmamoğlu on his re-election as mayor of Istanbul. Erdoğan also congratulated İmamoğlu and acknowledged that he won the election. İmamoğlu was then sworn into office on 27 June 2019. The same day he also received his mayoral certificate for the second time.
