British News Agency

The article stated: “Speaking to The Guardian, Özgür Özel, leader of the left-leaning Republican People's Party (CHP), said he was disappointed that Starmer had not spoken out about the attacks on the ‘sister party’, adding: ‘Starmer’s stance is one he won’t be able to justify in the future.’”

The Guardian continued:

“I want to send the following message: ‘After all this is over, we will remember the silence of our friends, not the loud voices and negative remarks of our enemies.’”

İmamoğlu was arrested last month on corruption charges, triggering the largest anti-government protests seen in Turkey in over a decade, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets.

The CHP has been holding rallies twice a week across the country, calling for an economic boycott of companies reportedly close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and hopes to build an anti-government movement. Around 1,500 people, including journalists and municipal politicians, have been detained so far.

While Turkish authorities insist that the charges against the Istanbul mayor are not politically motivated, Özel called it a “political case,” saying that Erdoğan’s lawyers imprison those who politically inconvenience him and his team.

The mayor, who governed the 16-million-strong city for six years, was seen as Erdoğan’s main rival. On the day he was transferred to a maximum-security facility on the outskirts of Istanbul, the CHP officially declared him its presidential candidate.

General elections in Turkey are scheduled for 2028, but early voting is widely expected. After officially nominating İmamoğlu, the CHP called for early elections.

Despite the mayor’s sudden arrest, Özel stated that the party already has plans for how to conduct a presidential campaign even if İmamoğlu remains in prison. He described the upcoming election as “a referendum on whether Turkey will be an autocracy or a democracy.”

Özel gave the interview shortly before holding a rally in Istanbul, while another is planned this weekend in Erdoğan’s stronghold along the Black Sea coast. Earlier this week, Erdoğan filed a criminal complaint against the opposition leader, accusing him of insulting the president by saying that Turkey is “ruled by a junta afraid of elections.”

Özel dismissed the case as an intimidation tactic, but said he did not rule out the possibility that Erdoğan might demand his arrest “if he cannot handle me politically – just as he did with İmamoğlu.”

While European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented on the mayor’s arrest, Özel said he wants Europe to increase pressure on Ankara to halt its democratic decline.

İmamoğlu’s arrest came as reports suggested that European leaders were considering assigning Turkey – which has the second-largest army in NATO after the US – a peacekeeping role in Ukraine.

“It is not right to hold unprincipled negotiations with Erdoğan for security concerns. No one benefits from NATO’s largest army being in Trump’s hands and the second-largest in the hands of an autocrat,” Özel said.

In the weeks following the mayor’s arrest, the British government and Labour Party have made few comments regarding events in Turkey or the deportation of BBC reporter Mark Lowen, who had been covering anti-government protests. Turkish officials claimed Lowen was deported for working without accreditation.

At the end of March, Minister for Europe, North America, and Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty told Parliament that the UK was “closely monitoring the situation.”

He added: “The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international obligations and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes.”

Özel accused Starmer of prioritizing regional security issues such as Syria over the erosion of democratic rights and the “great injustices” occurring in Turkey.

“The losers in this process,” he concluded, “are not just Erdoğan in the eyes of the world’s democratic forces, but also Starmer on the international stage.”