Ekrem İmamoğlu challenges the government: 'Let us all be held accountable before the nation'

CHP presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been detained in Silivri Prison since March 23, delivered significant messages in his letter regarding the corruption and espionage accusations against him.

"SERVING THIS NATION IS NOT CALLED ESPIONAGE"

According to a report by Cumhuriyet, İmamoğlu stated that Istanbul residents' data was not given to anyone and that everything was used in accordance with regulations. He reacted by saying, "They are trying to label the evaluation of this data for determining which neighborhood needs a nursery, milk distribution, or social services as espionage. Serving this nation is not called espionage."

"THEY ARE EXECUTING THE SETUP SO INCOMPETENTLY..."

Pointing out that state data, including the President's identity number, has been leaked, İmamoğlu commented, "They are executing the setup so incompetently that they do not even think about where these things will lead. People from within their own ranks are digging their own graves."

"HISTORY WILL WRITE YOU ON THE SAME PAGE AS KENAN EVREN"

Emphasizing that the indictment for the operation, which the prosecutor's office launched by calling it the "biggest corruption case of the century," has still not been written, İmamoğlu stated the following:

"They will never be able to convince our nation, which they have failed to convince with their lies until today, with these slanders. None of these accusations will stick to me. I am ready to account for all my assets from the last 35 years. My conscience is clear, my head is held high. If they have the will to carry out this cleanup for the sake of the nation's rights and the state's security, let us pass the law in Parliament in one day and clean up politics together. Let Parliament establish a commission and let us all be held accountable before the nation. Let them give the order, and let MASAK and the BDDK investigate the assets of all politicians and bureaucrats down to their third-degree relatives. Let us take an X-ray and finally heal this politics. I am addressing those who commit this oppression with a 'fait accompli' mentality: You did it, but this time it will not work! History will write you on the same page as Kenan Evren."

Describing the process of being brought to the Istanbul Courthouse during the "espionage" investigation, İmamoğlu recounted his experience:

"We spent a day under courthouse pressure, far removed from legal order and human values, which included a planned judicial harassment over a 20-hour period, as well as conditions of psychological and physical mistreatment. The judge who announced that we were arrested left the courtroom quickly without even looking at our faces. We were taken back down to the detention center on the minus 7th floor. We were kept waiting for hours."

"THE FEAR OF FACING IMAMOĞLU HAS MADE THEM LOSE THEIR MINDS"

Stating that Turkey's 102-year accumulation and struggle for democracy are being targeted for destruction, İmamoğlu used the expression, "A disreputable, unjust, and inhumane environment created by a handful of ambitious people who use the Turkish police and gendarmerie for this process." Describing the "espionage" investigation against him as the government's "desperation" and claiming he was targeted because he is an opposition leader, İmamoğlu said, "Even though I told them 'I will take your minds,' I did not expect them to lose their minds this early. The reason they are doing these things is clear: The fear of 'let us not face Ekrem İmamoğlu in the election' has made them lose their minds."

News Source: 12punto