Former Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is accused of leading an organized crime group for corruption and has been in prison since March 2025, challenged Turkish President Recep Erdogan to call early elections.
In an interview with "Reuters" Imamoglu said that if he runs again, Erdogan will lose the election.
"We want early elections now. But the current president sees the impending defeat and is withdrawing from the elections," according to Imamoglu, who is adamant that Erdogan will run and lose.
In recent years, the former mayor of Istanbul has emerged as Erdogan's main rival, with opinion polls showing him ahead of the current president.
The former mayor's Republican People's Party (CHP) has been calling for early elections for months.
The next presidential election is scheduled for 2028, when Erdogan's term ends. According to the Constitution, he is not allowed to run for president again unless the restrictions on this in the Basic Law are changed.
There has been talk for some time about changes to the Constitution that would allow Erdogan to run for president again, but no action has been taken in this direction.
However, he can run again in early elections, which would not require a change to the Constitution. According to analysts, Recep Erdogan will call elections next year.