İmamoğlu was sworn in as
Mayor of Istanbul on 17 April 17 days after the election, following the conclusion of all recounts. His mayoral tenure came to an end when on 6 May 2019, the Supreme Electoral Council annulled the election results and removed him as Mayor of Istanbul. According to the YSK (Turkish Council of Elections), the decision was taken because some presiding officers and polling staff were not civil servants. Turkish law stipulates they must be civil servants. A
new election was held on 23 June 2019, in which İmamoğlu was re-elected as the mayor of Istanbul, with a lead of more than 800,000 votes this time. Following his second loss to İmamoğlu,
Yıldırım conceded defeat and also congratulated İmamoğlu on his re-election as mayor of Istanbul. Erdoğan also congratulated İmamoğlu and acknowledged that he won the election. İmamoğlu was then sworn into office on 27 June 2019. The same day he also received his mayoral certificate for the second time.
Environmental actions İmamoğlu started a continuous bottom mud cleaning in the
Golden Horn, which was frequently on the agenda with
water pollution. After a long time, the Golden Horn regained its natural vitality, with fish swimming and dolphins racing. The
phaeton, which has been the subject of controversy on the
Princes' Islands due to its adverse health effect on horses and the carriages' impact on passing infectious diseases, was replaced by all-
electric vehicles as a result of the "Prince's Islands Transportation Workshop" program. Against the
earthquake risk, which is the top priority of Istanbul, risky areas and unsafe buildings are detected with detection scans all over the city. İmamoğlu has been critical of the Turkish government's plan to build the
Istanbul Canal, which would link the
Sea of Marmara and the
Black Sea through a second
waterway alongside the natural
Bosporus.
Socioeconomic actions The People's Milk project that started for children to have access to milk has reached more than 130 thousand children. The People's Milk project has been launched to prevent malnutrition, one of the most important dangers of urban poverty, and to provide economic and psychological support to families, also to support local
dairy farmers. Milk, which is procured from producers in
Çatalca and
Silivri, providing a budget of more than 3 million liras to the local economy, is delivered to children in Istanbul as a reliable and healthy food source. "Istanbul is our Home"
kindergartens, which provide equal opportunities in education for children who are deprived of pre-school education and their families, were established as centers that were meticulously planned in accordance with the physical and social needs of children. In Istanbul, which hosts the leading universities of Turkey, education support scholarships were provided to 63 thousand students for the first time in the history of Istanbul. With the monthly student subscription fee reduced from 80 TL to 50 TL, Istanbul became the city that provides the cheapest student transportation in
Turkey. Regional Employment Offices, one of the important projects implemented by IMM, enabled more than 17 thousand citizens to participate in employment as of June 2021. Mothers with children aged 0–4 residing in Istanbul were given free public transportation right in Istanbul. The Mother Card, which increases the participation of mothers in social life and contributes to the family economy, has been used more than 8 million times to date. An online aid campaign has been launched, calling on better-off residents to help financially troubled dwellers in paying their unpaid bills, as the coronavirus pandemic has strained many households in Turkey's largest city. People who want to help can participate in solidarity through a reliable platform by donating whatever they want from the Family Support, Mother-Baby and Student Support packages prepared by IMM to deliver to those in need. People's Bread project turned into a social aid campaign spontaneously after İmamoğlu thanked a benevolent Istanbulite for demanding that all bread in a mobile Halk Ekmek kiosk be paid for and delivered to those in need. The support given by philanthropists to deliver them to families in need has exceeded 1 million lira in total. The water bills of Istanbul residents were reduced by up to 34% and the human
right to water was introduced for every Istanbulite. Accordingly, 0.5 cubic meters, or 500 liters, of every 2.5 cubic meters of water consumed in residences is now considered a "human right to water". 9 years after this right was accepted at the
UN Human Rights Council, Istanbul residents are starting to get their rights for the first time. IMM gives priority to women's cooperatives in the products to be supplied to families in need, with the movement it started throughout Turkey, especially in Istanbul, for the participation of women in production and the evaluation of women's labor. The Newborn Support Package was launched to support families in need. Packages containing everything that a baby and a mother will need in the first 4 months, from feeding bottles to thermometers, from booties to pajamas, from baby shampoo to diapers and family training books, have reached the first families and the distribution of new ones continues. In addition, the families that the package reaches are visited by experts for a year, and their needs are determined.
Constructions and infrastructure Esenler Coach Terminal, where many newcomers to Istanbul were welcomed for the first time and which has been on the agenda for many years with its abandoned and dangerous condition, has become a safe and comfortable terminal as a result of a detailed project design. The floods, which occurred after the rain in most parts of the city and caused great financial losses to the Istanbulites, were largely eliminated. As of December 2020, works were completed in 63 of 104 chronically flooded locations in Istanbul under the coordination of IMM. Haliç
Shipyard, which has not been operated for many years and is on the verge of closure, has gained life both historically and functionally with meticulous work done by IMM. The shipyard also undertakes the production of Sea Taxis, which will be put into service by IMM in the near future. As a result of the works that started with the aim of IMM focusing on rail systems in the new period and making rail systems the backbone of public transportation, İmamoğlu claimed on Twitter that Istanbul became the city with the most subway constructions carried out at the same time. Due to the lack of funds for a long time, the 103.4-kilometer-long metro construction in 10 metro lines, most of which was incomplete or never started, was stopped. Funds were provided from financial institutions, which gained the trust of the management approach based on transparency and merit in Istanbul, for the move that put an end to a waste of 11 billion liras.
Eminönü-Alibeyköy Tram Line, which was stopped due to financing problems, was completed in the new period of IMM and opened to the service of Istanbulites.
Cultural projects IMM purchased the 540-year-old portrait of
Mehmed the Conqueror at an
auction opened by the
London National Gallery. Two different projects have been implemented to support musicians and theaters who have been subjected to a difficult process due to the
pandemic, which caused the cultural and artistic activities to come to a complete halt.
Agriculture and farming To support farmers, IMM gave
animal feed and
seedlings to 474 producers. 16,380 tons of crops were obtained in 2020 with the re-introduction of agricultural lands that were left idle.
Alleged assassination attempt On 1 December 2020,
OdaTV reported that the
Islamic State plotted to assassinate İmamoğlu. It was reported that a group of ISIS militants had been caught. Also, İmamoğlu's security guards had been instructed to "be more careful" on 23 November 2020. The
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said: "We receive intelligence like this from time to time, but they are not disclosed to the public," but the
Turkish Police denied that an assassination attempt was in place. It also refuted claims that the assassins were apprehended.
Trial On 14 December 2022, Ekrem İmamoğlu was sentenced to two years in prison for calling the
Turkish Supreme Election Council "fools" three years prior. The ruling was seen as an attempt by the
Erdoğan government to centralize power against popular opposition, and remove a potential political
rival. The trial drew wide international condemnation, and protests were organized in front of the Istanbul Municipality in response to it. Additionally, European mayors gathered in Istanbul in a show of support.
2023 presidential elections For the
2023 Turkish presidential elections, leader of the CHP,
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu declared his candidacy. Ekrem İmamoğlu,
Mansur Yavaş and the leaders of five parties in the Nation Alliance were named as vice-president candidates. On 7 May, Ekrem İmamoğlu was attacked during a pro-Kılıçdaroğlu rally in
Erzurum. His rally was interrupted, and stones were thrown by a mob of roughly 200 people, who attacked both the people gathered for the rally and İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu said at least 9 people from the rally crowd were wounded by the stones that were thrown by the attackers. Later it was reported that 17 people were severely wounded and taken to the hospital. Government officials and members of the leading party praised the attackers and blamed İmamoğlu for hosting the rally in Erzurum. Following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's victory in the
presidential runoff election on 28 May 2023, İmamoğlu called for significant changes inside the major opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). During a press conference on 7 June, İmamoğlu indirectly challenged CHP leader
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, claiming that cosmetic changes, such as dissolving and renewing the party's central management committee, would be insufficient to accomplish true transformation. On 28 July, he wrote a letter to the newspaper
Oksijen explaining what he meant by "change within his party." His letter came one day after he stated that society demanded that the CHP's leadership and administration be changed. In a comprehensive letter, İmamoğlu stated that present political party structures "do not meet the needs of Turkey."
2025 arrest On 19 March 2025, İmamoğlu was arrested by
Turkish Police on charges related to alleged corruption along with more than 100 people. He was also alleged to have aided the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). On 18 March 2025, Istanbul University annulled İmamoğlu's degree, citing irregularities, which blocks him from running for
president. He was visited in prison 11 days later by an EU delegation led by
Katarina Barley. Following his arrest, İmamoğlu's party, the CHP, called it a "civilian coup" and called for nationwide protests. Subsequently, the governor of Istanbul,
Davut Gül, imposed a four-day ban on protests in the city. The government also restricted access to several social media platforms following the detention. Despite the restrictions, protesters gathered outside
Şişli Municipality and held slogans in support of İmamoğlu. Despite assembly bans and police crackdowns, hundreds of thousands have rallied, with nearly 1,900 people detained since the protests began. Opposition leader
Özgür Özel condemned the arrests, accusing the government of attempting to intimidate and silence dissent. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has dismissed the protests, warning that those inciting unrest "have nowhere to go". On 16 July 2025, İmamoğlu was convicted of insulting and threatening Istanbul's Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek and sentenced to one year and eight months' imprisonment. The charges followed comments İmamoğlu made in January when he accused Gürlek of targeting opposition figures through politically motivated investigations. On 11 November 2025, Turkish prosecutors charged İmamoğlu with 142 offences, which Turkey’s opposition leader said were intended to prevent İmamoğlu’s political ascent. The indictment accused İmamoğlu of leading a sprawling criminal organization and sought a cumulative prison sentence exceeding 2,000 years—an extraordinary demand that opposition figures described as disproportionate and indicative of a politically driven attempt to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most formidable rival from public life. == Political positions ==