Breaking News: Historic call to the opposition from Ekrem İmamoğlu! 'It is now inevitable that we produce a common vision'

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the imprisoned presidential candidate of the CHP and Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who has been held in Silivri Prison since March 23, has issued a new statement.

The imprisoned presidential candidate of the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi – CHP) and Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu, issued a call of "historic responsibility" to the opposition in a statement addressed to the public.

In his statement, titled "My Call to the Opposition," İmamoğlu stated that the Presidential Government System and the current economic management are dragging Turkey into a process of deep collapse, noting that distrust in the country's justice system has exceeded 80 percent. Emphasizing that the judiciary, legislature, and executive have been concentrated in a single hand, İmamoğlu stressed that this situation has begun to shake the foundations of the state.

MY CALL TO THE OPPOSITION:

Due to the collapse caused by the Presidential Government System and incompetent economic management in Turkey, we continue to be a country that loses in every field.

In this freak system where the country, the state, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary are left to the authority of a single person...

— Presidential Candidate Office (@CAOIletisim) February 20, 2026

Making an open call to the opposition in his statement, İmamoğlu indicated that a common vision has become mandatory to ensure social unity and integrity, protect the Republic, and strengthen democracy and the rule of law.

Emphasizing that it is the joint responsibility of the opposition to ensure that elections are held under fair, equal, and secure conditions, İmamoğlu stated, "We must think and work together for the full manifestation of the nation's will at the ballot box."

İmamoğlu concluded his statement with the words, "We must fulfill our historic responsibility for the future of Turkey and we must stand up for Turkey."

The full text of İmamoğlu's statement is as follows:

"MY CALL TO THE OPPOSITION:

Due to the collapse caused by the Presidential Government System and incompetent economic management in Turkey, we continue to be a country that loses in every field.

In this freak system where the country, the state, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary are left to the authority of a single person, distrust in the justice system has exceeded 80%. Injustice has reached a point that will shake the foundations of the state. The rate of those who believe that tomorrow will not be better is around 70%, and the vote share of the government that has lost its legitimacy is at the 20% level.

The deep failure in education, hopelessness, and uncertainty about the future continue to be an existential problem that consumes our youth.

Turkey, which no longer talks about better things but worse, and which expects price hikes rather than discounts, is now exhausted.

The unhappiness, restlessness, and distrust of our nation, which cannot speak due to the climate of fear, anxiety, and worry, continue to deepen.

A HISTORIC RESPONSIBILITY FALLS UPON THE ENTIRE OPPOSITION.

To ensure social unity and integrity, to protect our Republic, to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, and to rebuild a prosperous Turkey, it is now inevitable that we think together and produce a common vision.

Working with a sense of responsibility to ensure that elections are held in a fair, equal, and secure environment is the historic responsibility of all of us as the opposition.

We must think and work together for the full manifestation of the nation's will at the ballot box.

We must build a common vision together that will fulfill our historic responsibility for the future of Turkey.

WE MUST STAND UP FOR TURKEY!"

News Source: 12punto