site.btaSofia Mayor Joins European Colleagues at Opposition Protest in Istanbul in Support of Arrested Mayor Imamoglu

Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, in his capacity as chairman of the B40 Balkan Cities Network, and Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni, Vice President of the largest network of major European cities Eurocities, were among the guests at Wednesday's rally organized in the centre of Istanbul – Beyoglu by the opposition Republican People's Party (RPP) in support of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and the other party's mayors who are currently in prison.

The rally, entitled "The People Defend Their Will," was broadcast live by the opposition television channels Halk TV, Sozcu, and Cumhuriyet TV.

RPP leader Ozgur Ozel introduced the European guests from the podium.

The Eurocities delegation, consisting of 10 mayors and other representatives from various European cities, will hold talks in Istanbul during the day. The delegation will present the "Special Award for Democracy" to Ekrem Imamoglu, the elected mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who is currently imprisoned in Silivri, Ozel said.

According to him, European representatives are expected to make statements after meeting with Imamoglu and also visit the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Last night's rally was the 50th of the rallies that the RPP has organized since March 19 in various municipalities of the metropolis and in various cities in Turkiye in support of the arrested Imamoglu and the other RPP mayors. This is the first protest to be organized in Beyoglu Municipality.

Beyoglu Mayor Inan Guney was arrested in the latest wave of arrests of mayors a few weeks ago, along with 17 other people. The latest arrest sparked strong protests. In the election for a new mayor of Beyoglu, the RPP representative in the Municipal Council won, and thus the RPP retained control of the Municipality.

"Freedom for the mayors," "Imamoglu for president,", "We want elections," "The Justice and Development Party is condemning us to poverty," "We want our mayor Inan Guney back," read the numerous slogans.

A letter from Imamoglu, written from Silivri prison, was read out at the rally.

The square was surrounded by barricades, many police officers, and armored cars. The rally lasted nearly two hours.