Turkey's Opposition in 2026: The İmamoğlu Trial, the CHP Cases and the Halk TV Trustee

As of 19 October 2026, Turkey's opposition is being reshaped in courtrooms on three fronts. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the elected mayor of Istanbul who was suspended from office after his arrest in March 2025, finished a four-day, roughly 21-hour defence on 17 October in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) corruption trial, where prosecutors seek 828 to 2,352 years in prison; he denies all charges and no verdict has been reached. A May 2026 appeals ruling annulled the Republican People's Party (CHP) 2023 congress and reinstated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as leader, after which Özgür Özel and 91 MPs founded YENİ Parti. And on 14 October prosecutors placed Halk TV, the country's most-watched opposition-leaning news channel according to the Financial Times, under a state trustee in a bribery inquiry into its owner. The government says the courts are independent and these are criminal cases; opposition parties and press-freedom groups say they are politically motivated.

How did the İmamoğlu case begin, and where does the trial stand?

On 18 March 2025 Istanbul University annulled İmamoğlu's degree over his 1990 transfer from a university in northern Cyprus; a degree is required to run for president. He was detained at home on 19 March, and on 23 March a court ordered him jailed pending trial on corruption charges while declining to do so on terrorism accusations, the Associated Press reported. The same day the CHP held a primary endorsing him as its presidential candidate, and the protests that followed were the largest in more than a decade, according to AP. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said on 19 March that the probe was not political and that courts are independent under Article 138 of the constitution; the European Commission's Kaja Kallas and Marta Kos asked Ankara for full transparency and due process.

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office announced the indictment on 11 November 2025: 402 defendants, about 3,700 pages (other outlets say 3,900), and 142 alleged offences for İmamoğlu, including leading a criminal organisation, bribery, money laundering and bid rigging, with alleged public losses of 160 billion lira and 24 million US dollars, Bianet reported. İmamoğlu called it a document built on lies; Özel said it was written by President Erdoğan. The trial opened on 9 March 2026 in a courtroom at the Silivri prison complex, where the court rejected a defence request to recuse the judges. After additional indictments were merged, including a 195-page one on 18 September naming 29 people over the municipal company Ağaç ve Peyzaj AŞ, the case covered 436 defendants by October, 53 of them in custody.

İmamoğlu began his defence at the 98th hearing on 14 October, called the case political, and asked that Kılıçdaroğlu be heard as a witness on the purchase of the CHP Istanbul building. On 15 October the Bakırköy prosecutor opened a separate investigation into his courtroom remarks for insulting public officials. On 17 October the court released seven defendants, kept 46 in custody, including İmamoğlu, and adjourned to 2 November, Habertürk and Yeni Şafak reported. He faces other cases too: on 11 September a court sentenced him to two years and one month and a political ban for defaming former Tuzla mayor Şadi Yazıcı, after two earlier acquittals, which he appealed on 13 October; a diploma-forgery trial resumes on 25 December; and a political espionage case held its third hearing on 29 September.

What happened to the CHP in court?

Lawsuits filed by former Hatay mayor Lütfü Savaş and several delegates alleged that delegates were paid to back Özel at the party's 4–5 November 2023 congress, where he defeated Kılıçdaroğlu. On 2 September 2025 an Istanbul civil court removed the party's Istanbul provincial leadership and appointed a five-member board under Gürsel Tekin. On 21 May 2026 the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal's 36th Civil Chamber declared the congress void ('absolute nullity') and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the ruling could be appealed; Özel took it to the Court of Cassation and, on 24 July, became leader of YENİ Parti, registered with the signatures of 91 MPs who had resigned from the CHP. The Kılıçdaroğlu-led CHP withdrew its own appeal, which spokesman Müslim Sarı said on 14 September was meant to avoid delaying a new congress. On 16 October a court postponed a related Istanbul case to 30 April 2027 to await the file's return from the Court of Cassation, meaning the ruling is not yet final.

The split was followed by defections. İmamoğlu resigned from the CHP on 12 August and joined YENİ Parti the next day. Ankara mayor Mansur Yavaş left the CHP on 23 September to sit as an independent. Izmir mayor Cemil Tugay, who left the CHP in June, joined the ruling AK Party on 7 October and received his badge from Erdoğan; four mayors, three of them formerly CHP, had joined on 10 September and nine from the CHP, İYİ Party and Yeniden Refah on 29 September. Other mayors moved to YENİ Parti. The Socialist International suspended the CHP and admitted YENİ Parti on 1 October, and the Party of European Socialists did the same on 15 October. On 16 October the CHP expelled 48 members. Kılıçdaroğlu said on 8 September that İmamoğlu's arrest was unjustified but that he is not a political prisoner.

Why was a trustee appointed to Halk TV?

Police financial-crimes units entered Halk TV's Istanbul headquarters early on 14 October, and live programming stopped at about 06:30, Reuters reported, while presenters were discussing the investment-fund scandal. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office said it was investigating chairman Cafer Mahiroğlu for bribery, bid rigging and laundering criminal proceeds; it issued 17 detention warrants, 11 people were taken into custody, and companies linked to him were seized and handed to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) as trustee. According to the prosecutor's statement as reported by Yeni Şafak, investigators allege 14.46 million lira in unrecorded bribes linked to Izmir Metropolitan Municipality tenders and a transaction volume of about 30.35 billion lira across his companies, based on data from the financial intelligence unit MASAK. Mahiroğlu, who lives abroad, called the allegations baseless and the move political. The published statement cited no specific legal article; social-media accounts were blocked under Article 8/A of Internet Law 5651, Milliyet reported.

The trustee board includes İbrahim Paşalı, a former Yeni Şafak columnist who also sat on trustee boards at TELE1 and Can Holding's channels, Bianet reported; it counts Halk TV as the tenth TV channel placed under TMSF since March 2025. On 16 October four suspects were remanded in custody and eight released under house arrest or judicial control. Editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş resigned that day, saying he would not work under a trustee, and by 19 October staff were broadcasting on YouTube after the TV signal stopped. In parliament on 14 October, AK Party MP Oğuzhan Kaya said the operation was not about stopping the media, and AKP and MHP votes rejected a YENİ Parti motion for an inquiry, Cumhuriyet reported. Özel said only dictators would raid a TV station at dawn; the Istanbul Bar Association called it unconstitutional; and on 15 October IPI, CPJ, ARTICLE 19 and 12 other groups urged the trustee's removal. European Parliament rapporteur Nacho Sánchez Amor also criticised it. Mahiroğlu blamed Kılıçdaroğlu, who had criticised the channel's foreign-based ownership on 10 October; a Kılıçdaroğlu aide said he opposed the trustee.

Key dates and what happens next

Timeline: 18 March 2025, diploma annulled; 19 March, İmamoğlu detained; 23 March, jailed pending trial and named CHP candidate; 2 September 2025, trustee board for CHP Istanbul; 11 November 2025, indictment; 9 March 2026, trial opens; 21 May, CHP congress annulled; 24 July, YENİ Parti founded; 11 September, Tuzla sentence; 7 October, Izmir mayor joins AKP; 14 October, Halk TV trustee; 17 October, defence ends. Coming up: on 21 October the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance resumes a criminal case over the 2023 congress with 12 defendants, including İmamoğlu; the İBB trial resumes on 2 November; CHP delegate elections start on 11 November, with all congresses due by 14 February; the diploma-forgery hearing is on 25 December; and the Istanbul congress case returns on 30 April 2027. The Court of Cassation's ruling on the nullity case, the appeal in the Tuzla case and any indictment in the Halk TV investigation have no date yet.