The 98th day of the IMM trial, in which 436 defendants, including 53 who are in custody, are being tried—among them the elected Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Ekrem İmamoğlu—has begun. İmamoğlu began presenting his defense in the case, which is being heard in the new courtroom of the Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri. The defense is expected to last four days.
İMAMOĞLU HAS BEGUN HIS DEFENSE
Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was removed from the courtroom on the last day of the first session of the IMM trial before he could present his defense, is continuing his defense today by taking the stand. While it is stated that İmamoğlu opposes the claims that he used his right to remain silent that day, his defense is expected to continue for four days.
According to Cumhuriyet, according to the schedule announced by the presiding judge, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday have been set aside for the defenses of İmamoğlu and his lawyers. The hearings are also planned to continue on Saturday, October 17.
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13.45 | FIRST RECESS CALLED
While İmamoğlu's defense was ongoing, the presiding judge intervened and said, "We can take a break at a point you deem appropriate." İmamoğlu replied, "If it is appropriate, let's take it now."
Upon this, the first recess of the hearing was called.
13.35 | İMAMOĞLU: "THEY BLAMED ME FOR THE CRIME THEY COMMITTED THEMSELVES!"
Continuing his remarks regarding the fund crisis, İmamoğlu spoke as follows:
"Look, I am reading from the very first page of the indictment in which they are trying me in the aftermath of the March 19 coup. '...aimed at creating a fund for the nomination of the organization leader in the presidential elections...' They love the word 'fund'. I have never had anything to do with a fund in my life; I don't know the way to the stock market. I went to school for it as a state official, but I don't know the way. On the very first page, it says it is aimed at creating a fund for the nomination of the organization leader in the presidential elections. Page 730, it was transferred to a structure called the corruption fund system established under the instruction of Ekrem İmamoğlu. I have never known what a fund is, nor have I ever talked about something called a system in my life. Page 3290, to the fund established for the Presidential candidacy, which is called the system name. Fund! And with words a whistleblower heard from someone else, we need at least 2 billion dollars, a fund, to win the election.
There is a great bond between those who write this and those who have it written, regarding the fund. Corruption fund, election fund, system. They wrote this throughout 4,000 pages. So where is the fund? In their accounts. For months, they have meticulously searched my family's accounts, companies, and relatives. There is no description for this cruelty. They detained and arrested spouses and children, dug up lands, broke down the doors of their homes, opened wells; I know the suffering every person here has endured. They couldn't find a single penny, not a single penny. Because that fund does not exist, such a thing never happened. Such a thing does not exist. It does not.
Those who pass by this path, probably those who do this and have it written, say, 'Well, we did it, he must have done it.' Well, no. I am not like you, we are not like you, we have never had such a world. But there was a real fund. We all saw it before our eyes. They accused me of establishing a corruption fund. They established the real corruption fund and stole the nation's money during the same period. While they were carrying out those operations against us, while they were waking the nation up to breaking news in the mornings, they took the money out of the nation's pockets in such a way that the nation could not even realize it.
This is just what we have found, let me say that. More funds will emerge. This country, this nation will see it. This country, this nation will see them. Those were the funds that robbed the nation, that swallowed the savings of half a million people. Those funds that they turned a blind eye to, that were managed by their men. They accused me of establishing an organization. They were the ones who established the real organization.
Look, everyone, big or small, in this order that targets the March 19 coup and the elected officials in its aftermath, is a part of this corruption fund order. I say this with a claim. In this order that targets the March 19 coup and the elected officials in its aftermath, both the one who writes and the one who has it written are part of this business and are involved in it. They dumped every crime they committed onto me, they tried to design and write it through me. Their order established the fund, they robbed the nation. They accused me of establishing a corruption fund. They established an organization to rob the nation. They accused me of establishing an organization. They were also the ones without diplomas, they accused me of being without a diploma. They looked in the mirror and wrote what they saw into the indictment in my name."
13.30 | İMAMOĞLU: "IF WE ARE DECEIVED, WE CEASE TO EXIST; IF WE ARE NOT DECEIVED, WE EXIST"
Continuing to touch upon the developments in the fund market in his defense, İmamoğlu explained the impact of the funds taken into the liquidation process on investors.
Evaluating what happened through economic losses, İmamoğlu addressed the citizens.
“Let's come to the Fund Scandal. In September 2026, 131 funds belonging to 7 portfolio companies were taken into liquidation. There was money belonging to over 455 thousand citizens in these funds. The fire did not remain only in those funds. The stock market lost over 16% of its value in 1 month. Approximately 90 billion dollars were wiped from the market value of publicly traded companies in 1 month. The cost of the fund scandal to this country, for now, for 15-20 days, has exceeded 107 billion dollars. Its final bill will continue to come out of the nation's pocket as a very large price in the coming days, weeks, and months. Now they are trying to deceive the nation. Do not be deceived, my people. If we are deceived, we cease to exist; if we are not deceived, we exist.
Think about it; people worked, saved. They saved for their child's school, for their retirement, for a house. They trusted the state, they trusted the regulated market. The regulated market, the ISE (Istanbul Stock Exchange). Look, the ISE is a very important institution. The Istanbul Stock Exchange is a brand of Istanbul, it is a brand of Turkey on a global scale, it is a very important institution. I will touch upon the IMM and ISE relationship in a moment. I will share with you what kind of double standard is being practiced.
Then, the bill for the lack of supervision will unfortunately be placed on the nation's back again. When a major financial scandal emerges, what needs to be done is clear. First, evidence is protected, then money is protected, then the network of relationships is unraveled. Finally, it is investigated why the institutions tasked with supervision did not see this.
So what was done in this crisis? The companies taken into liquidation continued to trade in their other funds for 15 days. They continued to sit at the head of their own records. The chairmen of the boards of directors of the banks affiliated with these companies remained in their posts until the end of September. They didn't know what to do. Because they were intertwined. They were relatives. They were together. Decisions were made together. This process was managed together. Should we detain them or not, they were taken and released. Accounts were blocked and unblocked, it was done and withdrawn. They didn't know what to do in a state of confusion. The chairmen of the boards of directors of the banks affiliated with these companies remained in their posts until the end of September.”
13.15 | İMAMOĞLU: "THE FUND CRISIS IS THE ROBBERY OF THE CENTURY"
In his assessments regarding political developments from the Republican era to the present, İmamoğlu addressed the current economic and legal picture. Listing various events that took place in Turkey, İmamoğlu argued that the fund crisis also had serious consequences for the citizens' savings.
In his assessment extending from the Republican era to the present, which he called "the greatest leap of this march," İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“Let's come to today; this country is under the weight of countless injustices today. It arrests elected mayors. Municipalities are being seized with threats and blackmail. The main opposition party is being sought to be designed with commissioned lawsuits. Journalists are being arrested for reporting news. The worker seeking their rights, the villager defending their land, the young person saying 'I do not accept this order' are met with gas, batons, and arrests. 500 thousand people are in prison, 500 thousand.
But what happens? Inflation does not fall. Rents rise, the kitchen shrinks. The cost of living grows, poverty increases. Hunger increases, hunger. Hopelessness grows. The outlook of young people towards the future is unfortunately at a negative level, it is collapsing. The place reached at the end of 25 years is clearly an order of plunder.
Look; the plunder committed against the Supreme Election Council on May 6, 2019, the plunder committed against the treasury and the Central Bank in 2021 with the foreign currency-protected deposit scheme, the plunder committed against democracy and law with the operation against the IMM on March 19, 2025, the plunder committed against politics with the nullity decision on May 21, 2026, and the plunder committed against the citizens' savings in the fund crisis, which let's call it by its name, is the robbery of the century. Every time the justification changed, but the result did not. Worse, they made the nation pay the bill for their own interests and benefits, to protect their seats, and they continue to sit in those seats.”
13.00 | İMAMOĞLU: "THEY WERE EVEN TOO LAZY TO READ THE BOOK"
İmamoğlu continued his statements regarding the examination and printing process of the book he wanted to publish. Stating that the content of the book was made the focus of the investigation, İmamoğlu explained that an order was given to seize the digital copies and printed copies of the book.
İmamoğlu spoke as follows:
"But it doesn't end there. This time the prosecutor's office says to the police: 'Examine the book, give me information.' The subject of the investigation suddenly turns into the content of the book. Where have we come from and where are we now? Although it is not his duty, the terror prosecutor takes the subject, but he said, 'Go, search, collect evidence.' When the banderoles were found, the subject of the investigation changed immediately and the truth could no longer be hidden. Actually, the evidence being sought was my book and it was being sought to be destroyed. They were afraid of my book.
Because that book revealed the inside story of a rigged trial. It proved a political tyranny disguised as law. The prosecutor's office immediately gave a new instruction: To seize the digital copy of the book, the ozalid print, four copies from the cover of the book, four copies from the printed pages, four banderoles, and finally to prepare a report by examining the seized digital version of the book...
Although the Press Prosecutor's Office is authorized in that situation, no one can stop our terror prosecutor. He has received such an instruction that no one can stop him, he is going headlong. But meanwhile, our prosecutor is also too lazy to read. Maybe someone, who might have never read a book in their life. And he gives the job of reading the book to the police."
12.45 | İMAMOĞLU EXPLAINED THE PROCESS OF BANNING HIS BOOK
İmamoğlu explained in detail for the first time what happened during the printing stage of the book he wanted to publish. Stating that police went to the printing house where the book was to be printed and the printing process stopped, İmamoğlu conveyed what happened as follows:
“An ordinary interrogation is not being conducted in this courtroom today. This interrogation has been awaited for months. I wanted it the most. At first, I wanted it to be at the very beginning, then I wanted it to be at the very end if it was going to be at the end. However, the process did not proceed as we desired.
When my turn for interrogation came on July 7, I expressed my objections. I was tried to be prevented and the interrogation was not allowed with statements contrary to the truth. Later, when the transcript of the audio recordings came out, the truth emerged. The record stating that I said I would not present a defense was completely contrary to the truth.
I prepared a broad statement to present all my information, preparations, and work against this indictment to my dear nation. I wanted to publish a book by compiling an abridged version of this statement. Since it is not desired for my voice to be heard and my words to be heard in the trial where I am being tried, I wanted to present what I have to say to my fellow citizens in writing.”
Stating that an agreement was made with a publishing house and the necessary banderoles were obtained, İmamoğlu said that 16 police officers came to the printing house during the printing preparations.
“An agreement was made with a publishing house, banderoles were obtained. Even the process of obtaining banderoles took days. I asked, 'Is it such a process?' I said. 'No, it is not like that,' they said.
The banderoles were obtained and reached the printing house. Just as the printing machines started to work, a phone call came from the printing house. 16 police officers raided the printing house. They have no search warrant, no justification. They said, 'You stop, wait a minute,' and left.
The printing house, rightly not wanting to come face to face with the state, we started to wait. We waited like this for a week. Then finally, exactly one week later, the banning decision was notified to the printing house. I am telling the details of the story of the banning of the book here for the first time. I neither wrote it anywhere nor told it.”
According to İmamoğlu's account, on August 25, 2026, at 17:45, a report was drawn up by the police stating that illegal and unbanderoled books were being printed at the printing house in line with intelligence information of unknown origin. İmamoğlu claimed that the search warrant was issued approximately five minutes after this report, following the notification of the prosecutor.
Stating that the prosecutor conducting the investigation works in the Bureau of Terror and Organized Crimes, İmamoğlu argued that the file should have been conducted by the Bureau of Investigation of Technical and Industrial Rights.
In his statement regarding the process, İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“The prosecutor immediately gives an instruction. For a search to be conducted within the scope of a situation where there is a risk in delay at the printing house. Where have we come from and where are we now? The prosecutor's office directly issues the search warrant. The time the decision was made is August 25, 2026, at 17:00. That is, 5 minutes after the police put the intelligence of unknown origin into the report, every opinion is put in its place. What kind of opinion it is... It is impossible not to be surprised. What kind of speed. When the subject is Ekrem İmamoğlu, it is impossible for anyone to catch up with the tremendous speed in the judiciary.
The prosecutor's office says the book in question. Which book in question? The police don't have such a notification. Unbanderoled, illegal books were being printed. Oh my... unbanderoled, illegal books. No specific book is mentioned in the report. How many books, which books are being printed without banderoles? This is the subject to be investigated, but the prosecutor is never interested in these. He is only after the book in question. Unbanderoled books and so on flew away. They smeared their hands and faces, they even smeared the evil on their hands and faces.
What is the information received? Unbanderoled books are being printed. What does the prosecutor decide? To take samples of the banderoles along with the book in question. They are going for unbanderoled books, but to take samples from the book in question and the banderoles. Weren't they printing without banderoles? Did the prosecutor decide to collect non-existent banderoles? The police, of course, carry out the prosecutor's order. Since March 19, I am truly so sad for the state that our security forces, our gendarmerie, our police, whom I love very much, have fallen into.”
12.40 | İMAMOĞLU: "WE WILL ALMOST PRAY FOR NORTH KOREA"
In his speech regarding the pressures on journalists and social media accounts, Ekrem İmamoğlu claimed that access to information was being tried to be blocked. Listing the names of the journalists he stated were arrested in the last 20-25 days, İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“Pressure on social media accounts, on journalists... You know, the perspective of 'Let information not reach, how can we prevent this?' has reached an interesting level. We will almost pray for North Korea. It has reached a level that will make us pray for North Korea.
Scientists, artists, economists, journalists... In the last 20-25 days, Lale Özan Aslan is arrested, Fatih Ergin is arrested, Tuğba Tekerek is arrested. Mustafa Balcı is arrested because he published a photo in the Sözcü newspaper. Şaban Sevinç is arrested, Selahattin Gülay is arrested. Ali Tarakçı is arrested because he said, 'An important minister might resign this week.' You will be surprised! Arrested, arrested, arrested, arrested. I know what arrest means."
WARNING OF AN OPERATION FROM İMAMOĞLU TO THE AKP
Continuing his criticisms of the government, İmamoğlu argued that the operations would have political consequences and addressed the AK Party.
İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“The operation-addicted minister is unfortunately making this government addicted as well. Operation addiction has begun. He has dragged the entire AK Party into a vortex of mistakes. I am warning everyone. I am warning the AK Party from top to bottom. You are in a process that drags you into a vortex of operations. May God give you wisdom and common sense.
They think that they will compensate for their losses with his skill, that they will regain everything they have lost. They have lost the nation's trust, they have lost the nation's faith in them. They think they will compensate for all this with operations. The poisonous ivy has unfortunately poisoned the government and their party as well. You need urgent treatment. I don't know if we can save you.”
Touching upon the intervention against Halk TV, İmamoğlu stated that the channel has a wide audience and claimed that the development would also have repercussions in the international arena.
“Turkey's most followed news channel... It is five times, six times ahead of its closest rival. The effort to destroy the most followed news channel is also the result of a mental breakdown, a poisoning. The whole world will read this.”
12.31 | STATEMENT FROM İMAMOĞLU REGARDING HALK TV
In his defense, İmamoğlu also spoke about Halk TV, which was raided by police and had a trustee appointed on the same day. Stating that he learned about the situation of the channel in a phone call with his family, İmamoğlu conveyed the conversation he had with his mother and father.
"I got up in the morning and made my preparations. Today was my phone day, I can call one person for 10 minutes a week. I made those calls today by calling my mother and father. We wouldn't be able to talk because there would be a hearing on Friday. My dear mother said, 'They closed Halk TV, why did they close it?' I didn't understand at first. Then my father said, 'They appointed a trustee, Ekrem.' He said, 'What can I say, son, soon they will cut our ears too.' Very interesting things are happening in this country. Ferhan Şensoy has a saying called 'the needle's eye of coincidence,' I guess the Halk TV trustee today is a coincidence, let's interpret it that way."
Touching upon the fact that the intervention against Halk TV took place on the day his hearing was held, İmamoğlu spoke as follows:
"The poisonous ivy has poisoned the government and their party as well. We need urgent treatment. I don't know if we can save you, but our concern is to save the nation. Closing Turkey's most followed news channel is the result of a poisoning. The whole world will read this. You are doing this on the day of Ekrem's hearing, is there no wisdom or common sense at all, the nation will follow my hearing even more now. May God protect us all from small minds."
12.15 | İMAMOĞLU RECALLED THE PRESIDENT'S WORDS
Arguing that the relatives and lawyers of the detained defendants also faced pressure during the trial process, İmamoğlu made assessments based on the presumption of innocence and the right not to be stigmatized. In his speech, he also quoted words he stated belonged to the President.
İmamoğlu spoke as follows:
“I will also touch upon the difficulties experienced by other detainees here and the pressure put on legal professionals. I must remind you that we have truly experienced a deep lawlessness. Not only our families, our relatives, our children, our youth, our fathers, our grandfathers, and our mothers, but our legal professionals have also been the subject of suffering and pressure here.
I have heard the most interesting information of my life. Hundreds of visitors came to me, they told me about the conversations they were subjected to. I listened to the meetings they had with members of the judiciary, the attitudes of the members of the judiciary towards them, their threats, and their finger-wagging. I looked at the Turkish Penal Code. A prosecutor or a person representing the prosecution, let alone a lawyer, cannot wag a finger at a citizen, cannot threaten them. I read these, but I experienced the exact opposite, I listened to it from those who experienced it.
The families here have truly experienced very painful days. But do you know what the most painful thing was? Character assassination. The violation of the right not to be stigmatized. The destruction of the presumption of innocence. The use of the confidentiality of the investigation against people who are detained or in custody. The transformation of detention into a method of punishment.
I will read you a quote: 'No one in Turkey, including myself, is beyond criticism. We will not allow character assassination against our public officials and cabinet members with a mentality of 'throw mud, let it leave a mark,' and completely with a politics of hatred. Freedom of expression is not the freedom to slander anyone you come across. Everyone who claims to be holding someone accountable must do their job with a sense of responsibility.'
He said it very well. These words belong to Mr. President. I am saying it from here too: Whoever slanders someone before their trial is over and concluded, whoever commits character assassination against a person, whoever humiliates a person's family, declares their child, youth, offspring, mother, father a thief; is dishonorable, is unscrupulous, is ignoble.”
12.13 | THANKS FROM İMAMOĞLU TO LEGAL PROFESSIONALS
İmamoğlu thanked the lawyers who supported him during the trial process and other legal professionals who contributed to the case. Drawing attention to the importance of the legal profession, İmamoğlu became emotional during his speech.
“I have my own lawyers who give me information in this struggle. However, I certainly do not distinguish any legal professional involved in this struggle from one another. I convey my thanks and feelings of gratitude to all legal professionals for being stakeholders in this great struggle.
I experienced here, millimeter by millimeter, centimeter by centimeter, how important a profession it is to be a legal professional, to be a lawyer, and what a great need it is. Lawyering is the source of human life, like air, like water. (His voice trembled, he became emotional)
While looking into the eyes of each of them, I felt, and I feel, that they respect their own professions at least as much as I do. Of course, I see that they also experience the suffering of being in an environment where they cannot find the reward for their professions. We are confiding in each other, we are sharing.”
12.10 | İMAMOĞLU: "I WILL SHARE BOTH MY BREAD AND MY MEAL WITH THOSE FAMILIES"
Touching upon the difficulties experienced by the families of the detained defendants, İmamoğlu said that if they regain their freedom, he will continue to show solidarity with these families.
“They had requests, they had unlawful requests. When they couldn't get an answer to these unlawful requests, they made them experience cruelties. While they are experiencing this great suffering, I also embrace their families who are suffering at least as much as they are on the outside. As long as God gives me life, whatever authority and means I have in their free days, I will share both the bread and the meal in my home with those families. I will be a companion in fate to these people, even to the point of sharing my bread.
Not only them, but I will also be by the side of the prisoners of fate in prisons, against those who boast about putting nearly 500 thousand people in prison in this country. I will look after the difficulties they experience throughout my life. I want to state here that I will work like a soldier to make this country a fair country and that I will struggle by feeling at least as responsible as they are in this regard.”
Thanking his wife Dilek İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“My dear Dilek, I am proud of you. You are one of a kind. I'm glad you exist. I'm glad you are by the side of those families.”
Following İmamoğlu's words, the audience in the courtroom applauded.
12.05 | İMAMOĞLU: "I SEE EACH OF MY FRIENDS LIKE A HERO"
Touching upon the people tried in the same case and their families in his defense, İmamoğlu said that what his detained friends experienced should be passed on to future generations.
İmamoğlu used the following expressions:
“We had friends. Each of their lives is a book. Each of their lives contains stories that need to be penned with indescribable emotions and passed on to the future, regarding the cruelty, tyranny, and suffering inflicted upon people, especially their families.
In this sense, I am proud of each of my friends. I met most of my friends here, here. Among them are fellow travelers with whom I have had a very special companionship and with whom I have served Istanbul and Beylikdüzü together. I embrace them all. I emphasize once again that I look at each of them like a hero. Not only me, but the vast majority of our nation is also proud of them. Their families, friends, and neighbors are also proud of them.
There are people waiting at the door here every day with longing and hope. They traveled kilometers. Perhaps they traveled enough to circle the world many times in their trips to and from Silivri. Because not only during the hearing periods, but also outside the hearings, the families of the people here came to visit. They tried to relieve their pain and longing. Even if some could not come to the visit, they waited at the door.
I don't know with what emotions I can describe these people. I embrace them all. They established a historical line of struggle. They came together under the name of the Family Solidarity Network.
There are beautiful families, spouses, children, mothers, and fathers waiting there with hope. Sometimes I saw their photos, sometimes I watched their images on television. Tiny children, who do not yet know why they are in this situation and cannot make sense of it, came to visit their mothers and fathers. I kiss the hands and cheeks of those tiny children, youth, and offspring. I embrace them all tightly.”
12.00 | İMAMOĞLU TOOK THE STAND, BEGAN HIS DEFENSE
In the courtroom, journalists were moved to a closer section and space was made for the audience. After those who could not enter the hall were also let in, the detained IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu took the stand and began his defense.
İmamoğlu is presenting his defense for the first time in the 19th month of his detention.
At the beginning of his defense, addressing the public, the people of Istanbul, and those who struggle for democracy and justice, İmamoğlu said:
"We are here today in an environment we do not want, within a trial that the vast majority of our people vehemently reject, on a campus in Silivri, in a place described as the largest courtroom in Europe. As always, I came from prison in Silivri. I will address our people, our citizens. I will address my precious people, primarily our fellow citizens of Istanbul, our entire country, and even those who struggle for democracy and justice to live in the world, those who feel committed to those universal values."
News Source: 12punto
