Support visit to İmamoğlu from European leaders
Mayors from various European cities visited Istanbul to show their support for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and presented him with a "Special Democracy Award."
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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