The 2 years and 7 months prison sentence given to Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was on the agenda of the ongoing budget discussions at the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). While the opposition party deputies reacted harshly to the said decision, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies responded to the opposition's criticism that the "court's decision was political".
“THE OPPRESSION INCREASES THROUGH THE FEAR”
Erhan Usta, Deputy Chairman of the Good (IYI) Party Group, said, “If the victims of that day, who were convicted with a poem he read years ago, become proud when they gain power after years, it means you have not made any progress in your 20 years of power. Behind the decision taken for Imamoglu is a great fear of democracy and the will of the people. As fear increases, cruelty increases, punishment increases, injustice increases.”
“THE CLAIM THAT INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT BE ACCEPTED”
Responding to the words of the IYI Party member Usta, AKP Group Deputy Chairman Yılmaz Tunç said, “Erhan Usta used expressions that we cannot accept regarding the Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of First Instance’s decision. The decision of the Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of First Instance is a conviction on the grounds of insult, following the statements of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor, Mr. İmamoğlu. This is a decision of the court of first instance. It’s an uncertain decision. There is an appeal process. It's an appealing decision. I believe that it is not right to create a storm over an imprecise decision and to try to create a perception of victimization here. The claim that the decision was made by the order of the government cannot be accepted for once. Such a situation is absolutely out of the question. This is a smear policy.”
“COURT DECISION WAS GIVEN BY A PERSON”
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Artvin Deputy Uğur Bayraktutan said, “Don't call it a court. There is no court in front of you. They used to be, Mr. President. What court? To a man given a special assignment, 'Take care of it' they said. Task and instruction given. It has been done properly. We know who gave the order. This instruction was not given by those here. The instruction was given by one person. We'll see if he's right or not. So these days will pass. Despite all these negativities, we will make this country the land of hope and freedom, the Turkey of all of us.”