site.btaSofia Mayor Joins Eurocities Delegation to Support Jailed Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu

Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev will be part of a delegation of Eurocities, the largest network of European cities, which will visit Istanbul this week to show its support for former mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested on corruption charges in March, the City Hall said on Tuesday.

Italian Democratic Party MEP Dario Nardella said mayors from several European countries will visit Istanbul this week to show their support for former mayor Imamoglu, according to  the turkishminute.com website. Nardella is a former mayor of Florence and former Eurocities president.

A corruption probe in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality began in March, when, along with the city's mayor, a number of municipal employees were detained, an action that sparked a wave of protests described as the largest in Turkiye since 2013.

Imamoglu, who was arrested on March 19 on corruption charges, is considered the most serious opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On March 23, a court ordered Imamoglu's permanent detention and a few days later, the Istanbul Municipal Council removed him from office.