The prosecutor’s proposal for a total of 2,430 years in prison Ekrem Imamoglouthe imprisoned mayor of Istanbul and a political opponent of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has caused several reactions in the EU, with the France to comment on this development.
Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in March 2025 on charges of terrorism and corruption while he was suspended from his duties and since then several EU countries have expressed their concern, with France as a recent example, about this case.
In particular, the representative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed his country’s “deep concern” for the decision of the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office to prosecute Ekrem Imamoglu for 142 offences.
«This decision worries us because it seems to harm democracy and political pluralismPascal Confavre said today (14.11.2025).
“Respecting the rights of local government elected officials and opposition MPs, the right to a fair trial, freedom of demonstration and expression are the foundations of the rule of lawhe added.
At the end he reminded that it is about “commitments that Turkey has undertaken as a member state of the Council of Europe».