French Media Imamoglu Analysis: The Istanbul Prankster

As the countdown to the May 14 elections continues, a remarkable analysis/portrait of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who was one of the prominent figures in the National Alliance candidate’s election campaign Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, came from the French. media.

French media commented on İmamoğlu as “Istanbul’s prankster”.

The analysis published in Le Monde, one of the most widely read newspapers in France, used the headline “Turkey elections: Istanbul prankster Ekrem İmamoğlu”. In the analysis, “as the May 14 elections approach, the mayor of Istanbul is the leading opposition figure against Erdogan. If he wins the opposition, Imamoglu will become vice president, but many dream of seeing him one day lead the country.

It was noted that Imamoglu was addressing the growing number of voters at the rallies, and it was commented that “the mayor of Istanbul has been visiting the country for weeks as a long-distance runner.” In the news, “Elections are on May 14 and this 52-year-old civil servant who took office with the elections is working to improve Turkey. With arms outstretched towards him and shaking hands everywhere, they hugged İmamoğlu.

The article commented on İmamoğlu as “Istanbul’s prankster”.

It was also pointed out that voters were fired at the demonstrations attended by İmamoğlu, and it was emphasized that many issues such as freedom, democracy, unemployment, justice, women’s rights and the earthquake were on the agenda of the demonstrations.

Recalling that İmamoğlu supported Kılıçdaroğlu and Meral Akşener and Mansur Yavaş also supported him, he said: “Everyone is together to defeat Erdogan. It is said that in rallies Ekrem Mayor is called, but this can refer to the mayoralty, but it can also mean referring to the presidency.

“LIKE A JOKER FOR CHP”

In Le Monde news, “İmamoğlu, who is the only person who can beat Erdoğan by far, according to polls, works for someone else, not himself. But despite this, he remains in the spotlight and adds zest to the opposition’s election campaign as a CHP prankster. No one knows how hard this pill is to swallow for someone who has already seen the summit.”

The article also recalled İmamoğlu’s prison sentence of 2 years, 7 months and 15 days for insulting members of the Supreme Election Board. “He is known as ambitious, and seeing him active like this, we better understand why the authorities are trying to clip his wings and block his candidacy,” the analysis said.