Opinions opposite to those of Erdogan. Akram Imamoulu/Reuters
The mayor of Istanbul who was re-elected to his post this week, Akram Imamulu, has emerged as the main opponent to the rule of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But in some ways, he is following in the footsteps of the Turkish leader who presided over the country's largest city in the 1990s.
Apart from the fact that both were mayors of Istanbul, both have family roots in the Black Sea region and both had their political careers blocked by Turkey's courts. In their youth, both were also keen footballers.
After recording a resounding victory and retaining his position in Sunday's local elections, the 53-year-old is seen by many commentators as someone who may one day become Turkey's president.
He said after his victory that the voters sent a direct message to Erdogan. "Those who do not understand the message of the nation will lose in the end," said the mayor of Istanbul.
However, while both share an ability to reach voters, there are significant political differences between them. Imamoulu, who was a businessman before entering politics, said himself: "Our views are quite opposite."
He dealt the hardest political blow since the beginning of his reign. Erdogan/Reuters
Erdogan entered politics as a member of an Islamist party and changed the secular nature of Turkey when he took office in 2002. On the other hand, Imamoulu is a member of the secular Republican People's Party, which he joined in 2008. About a decade ago, he was elected head of Beylikduzu district in Istanbul.
His success stems from his ability to break the social glass ceiling of the party, which has about 25% support in Turkey, and reach more conservative voters.
He proved it in 2019, when he handed Erdogan's Islamist Justice and Development Party its biggest loss in 20 years. He beat her candidates not once, but twice: a court overturned his original victory in March of that year, only to see him win by a larger margin in the June re-election.
Erdogan managed to recover and won another term in last year's presidential elections, despite the economic crisis, and contrary to many polls. However, Imamoulu has now dealt a new blow to the administration.
"These are more than municipal elections, but elections with a historic mission," he said during the campaign. "If they go down in history, then democracy will be resurrected and law and justice will be restored."
Erdogan's opponents say Turkey's judiciary, civil rights and press freedom have eroded under his watch, charges the government denies.
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The opposition dreams of a revolution. Imamoglu's supporters celebrate his victory this week/Reuters
Imamulu himself faced legal troubles. After his victory in 2019, a judge sentenced him to two and a half years in prison, and imposed a political ban on him for insulting public officials. The Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on the matter.
The conviction recalled a case from Erdogan's past, who was briefly jailed in 1999 for reciting a poem that a court ruled was incitement to religious hatred.
Last year, another court opened an investigation against Imamoulu on the charge of rigging tenders, which is punishable by three to seven years in prison. Erdogan's critics see this as political persecution, while Erdogan and his party deny it.
Although he described obstacles posed by the central government Ankara, the mayor of Istanbul claims that his administration has provided services and development in Istanbul, a city of 16 million people that drives Turkey's economy. Istanbul is completely different from his native Black Sea province of Trabzon, where he was born in 1970 and spent what he describes as a happy childhood "in lush green nature, stormy seas and stone streets."
He attended Istanbul University and graduated with a degree in business administration in 1994, the year Erdogan became mayor, before entering his family's construction business. He is married and has three children.
It all started in a meatball restaurant
Sunday's victory was in contrast to 2019, when he was backed by an alliance of opposition parties that collapsed last year after a general election defeat. According to him, his support this time came from "a strong conscientious alliance, established by millions thirsty for democracy and justice".
Many commentators estimate that he will also succeed in the national arena. "(If) these elections are not canceled by objections in some way, he will be the president in 2028," Ozer Senkar, head of the Metropol polling institute, told Reuters before the election.
Imamaulu recently recalled the routine meeting where their paths crossed for the first time.
In the mid-1990s, after Erdoğan became mayor, he visited a meatball restaurant run by the young Imamoğlu in the Gungoran district of Istanbul.
"When he was in his first months in office as mayor, I hosted him," he said. "He ate meatballs at my restaurant. I didn't take his money. He won't pay this bill as long as he lives."
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Turkey
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Akram Imamaulu