İmamoğlu's comments on 'Başak Demirtaş' and 'Kanal İstanbul': 'What won't one do to get votes'

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu spoke at the opening ceremony of the Yedikule Youth Sports Facility.

İmamoğlu addressed the Kanal İstanbul remarks made by AKP's IMM candidate Murat Kurum and the claims that the DEM Party would nominate Başak Demirtaş, the wife of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş.

BAŞAK DEMİRTAŞ CLAIMS

Regarding the Başak Demirtaş claims, İmamoğlu stated, "It is not right to comment on whether another party will field a candidate or not."

KANAL İSTANBUL

İmamoğlu also evaluated the response given by Kurum yesterday to the question, "Is Kanal İstanbul one of the mega projects?", where Kurum said, "We said that nothing that is not on Istanbul's agenda will be on our agenda. We expressed this. We will work in line with the wishes and desires of the people of Istanbul, whatever they want and expect, and we will carry out projects that meet these expectations. There will be a priority ranking." İmamoğlu remarked, "What won't one do to get votes, to win votes. The nation's will has prevailed."  

İmamoğlu further stated:

"We are forced to re-evaluate the collective bargaining agreements we made 4-5 months ago. We have to increase every contribution we provide. We are currently facing a serious economic hardship. We are fighting against inflation. We have been struggling with triple-digit inflation for 1 year." 

İmamoğlu also responded to the question from children playing football in the area: "Messi or Ronaldo?" 

İmamoğlu said, "Both are role models, both have coincided with this era. Both are very good. They have different characteristics; Ronaldo looks more aesthetic. Messi is also very intelligent." 

When asked, "So which team do you support?", İmamoğlu replied, "I support all of Istanbul's teams. I support all of Turkey's teams."