On March 19, 2025, Ekrem İmamoğlu, mayor of Istanbul and presidential candidate of the largest opposition party CHP, was arrested by Turkish police along with more than 100 other people. The charges were corruption and support for terrorism. The arrests triggered the largest protests in Türkiye in a decade. To date, at least 15 elected CHP-mayors, more than 200 party members, and thousands of other people have been detained. Legal proceedings are currently underway to remove the CHP leadership and render the party incapable of functioning. Observers already fear the end of the multi-party system and an independent opposition in Türkiye.
In November 2024, Ekrem İmamoğlu delivered our Helmut Schmidt Lecture in Berlin. In his speech, he spoke passionately about democratic engagement and the defense of democracy, the rule of law and freedom. Today, he is the most prominent face of the many politically persecuted people in Türkiye, which under President Erdoğan increasingly appears to be moving toward autocracy.
- Where is Türkiye heading?
- What do the renewed waves of repression against the opposition mean for the country’s political development and its civil society?
- What responses are required from Germany and Europe?
We will discuss these and other questions with Can Dündar (Turkish journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Kars Kaynar (Grand National Assembly of Türkiye-GNAT) in a webinar on September 23 (200 days after İmamoğlu’s imprisonment). Dr. Dan Krause, programme director European and International Politics at Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung, will moderate the discussion
23 September 2025 | at 12 | Webinar via Zoom (To participate in the webinar, click here.)
No registration required.
