Support visit to İmamoğlu from European leaders

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality hosted mayors from different European cities. The Eurocities delegation arrived in Istanbul to show their support for the imprisoned IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The delegation presented a "Special Democracy Award" to be given to İmamoğlu.

The visit was hosted by IMM Deputy Mayor Nuri Aslan. The delegation expressed their belief in democracy and called for İmamoğlu's release.

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni Cuadrado stated, "Ekrem İmamoğlu is not alone; we are by his side and we are here for democracy." Utrecht Mayor Sharon Dijksma emphasized that İmamoğlu is not just a mayor, but also a husband and a father, and noted that the situation is saddening. Timișoara Mayor Dominic Fritz praised İmamoğlu's stance, saying, "You can physically imprison someone, but you can never imprison their spirit."

The delegation will hold another press conference in front of Silivri Prison at 14:00.

The mayors who visited as part of the Eurocities delegation are as follows:

Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona and Vice President of Eurocities

Vasil Terziev, Mayor of Sofia and President of the B40 Balkan Cities Network

Tomislav Tomašević, Mayor of Zagreb

Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens

Dominic Fritz, Mayor of Timișoara

Sharon Dijksma, Mayor of Utrecht

Gergely Szilveszter Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest

Arnaud Ngatcha, Deputy Mayor of Paris

José Francisco Herrera Antonaya, Director General of International Relations for Madrid

André Sobczak, Secretary General of Eurocities

News Source: 12punto