Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and 11 others accused of manipulating the Republican People's Party elections.

According to the official Turkish news agency "Anadolu Agency," as reported by the German news agency, the prosecution has charged the imprisoned mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, and 11 others with manipulating the votes of delegates during the internal conference of the Republican People's Party (the largest opposition party in Turkey) in 2023.

According to "Bloomberg," if the charges are proven, the accused could face prison sentences ranging from one to three years. The indictment stated that the suspects offered financial incentives, jobs in the Istanbul municipality, political nominations, and food aid cards to delegates in exchange for voting for Ozgur Ozel as the new party leader.

It is worth noting that the party conference witnessed a change in leadership after months of its former leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, losing to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential elections.

The next session of the court to review the case is scheduled for June 30. If the conference results are annulled, Ozgur Ozel will be removed from the party leadership, leading to new elections to choose the party's leadership.