section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: Ekrem İmamoğlu (born 4 June 1970) is a Turkish politician and businessman who has served as the 32nd Mayor of Istanbul since 2019. He is currently suspended from office temporarily. He is the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate for the next Turkish presidential election.
  
  İmamoğlu was born in Akçaabat and moved to Istanbul in 1987. He attained a Bachelor's degree in business administration and a Master's degree in human resource management from Istanbul University and then worked as a developer in his family's construction and real estate business. In 2002, he became a board member of the multi-sport club Trabzonspor. İmamoğlu joined the CHP in 2008 and acted as president of party's local chapter in Beylikdüzü before being elected as mayor of Beylikdüzü in 2014. İmamoğlu was nominated by the CHP to replace Kadir Topbaş as Mayor of Istanbul in 2017 but the position went to Mevlüt Uysal.
  
  In March 2019, İmamoğlu was elected as Mayor of Istanbul in an upset victory against the ruling AK Party -backed candidate Binali Yıldırım: despite the AK Party successfully annulling and repeating the election that June, İmamoğlu was reelected. In his first term, İmamoğlu combatted child malnutrition by improving access to milk from local dairy farmers, provided tertiary education scholarships, reduced public transportation fares and utility costs for certain residents, and oversaw Istanbul's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. İmamoğlu's environmental initiatives included launching a program to clean the Golden Horn and replacing phaetons with all-electric vehicles on the Princes' Islands. He led the restoration of the Esenler Coach Terminal and expanded the city's public transport network. İmamoğlu was reelected as Istanbul Mayor for a second term in 2024, and is considered a front-runner for the 2028 presidential election.
  
  In December 2022, İmamoğlu was sentenced to 2 years, 7 months, and 15 days imprisonment and banned from participating in politics after being found guilty of insulting public officials. His sentence and ban was halted pending his appeal. İmamoğlu was named as a running mate for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in his unsuccessful campaign in the 2023 presidential election. In March 2025, İmamoğlu was arrested on corruption charges, with the State-run Anadolu Agency claiming İmamoğlu was suspected of extortion, money laundering, irregularities concerning tenders and procurements and aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This terminated his ongoing mayorship of Istanbul and prompted Istanbul University to invalidate İmamoğlu's diplomas, effectively disqualifying him from running for president. His arrest resulted in multiple nationwide protests.