Congress President Marc Cools led the first international delegation to meet Mayor İmamoğlu following his arrest on 23 March 2025.
After their official visit to Türkiye on 5-6 May 2025, the delegation made the following statement:
"Following our substantial exchange of views with Mr. İmamoğlu we remain convinced that it is unacceptable, under the rule of law, to deprive Istanbul of its elected mayor by detaining him without trial or substantiated charges, and we reiterate our call for his immediate release. This situation constitutes a violation of Mr. İmamoğlu's fundamental human rights and seriously hampers the ability of local governance in the largest city of Türkiye to function effectively in serving the needs of its citizens.
"We reiterate that the arrest of local elected representatives and municipal staff, and their replacement without due process or evidence-based trials, undermines fundamental democratic principles. In particular, replacements of mayors by appointed trustees must stop and allegations of terrorism, a phenomenon that we are all fighting, can in no way justify replacing mayors by government administrators. These actions effectively disregard the will of the citizens expressed through the ballot box. We are equally concerned by the reported violations of demonstrators' fundamental freedoms following the protests triggered by the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul.
"Following this visit, the Congress will continue to monitor the situation of local officials and local democracy in the country.
"We thank the authorities of Türkiye for granting us access to Mayor İmamoğlu and we remain committed to pursuing our constructive political dialogue with them on these pressing issues in the framework of the post-monitoring dialogue opened in 2024."
This visit was a follow-up to the Declaration on dismissals of mayors in Türkiye, adopted by the Congress on 27 March 2025 and urging the Turkish authorities to release detained mayors - including Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu - and stop their dismissals and detention.
During the visit, Congress President Marc Cools, Congress Rapporteur on the situation of local democracy in Türkiye, Bryony Rudkin (United Kingdom, SOC/G/PD) and Congress Standing Rapporteur on Human Rights Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, SOC/G/PD), accompanied by Congress Secretary General Mathieu Mori, met Deputy Minister of Interior Münir Karaloğlu, Deputy Justice Minister Hurşit Yıldırım, Acting Mayor of Istanbul Nuri Aslan, Chairperson of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Özgur Özel, as well as leaders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), of the Turkish Union of Municipalities and of the National Youth Council of Türkiye.
