Necati Ozkan. Photo: necatiozkan.com.tr
Necati Ozkan, the campaign manager of jailed Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, told BIRN in a letter from his cell in Kandira Prison in Turkey’s Kocaeli province that the country’s judiciary has been transformed into a political tool.
“The judiciary has gone far beyond being merely an instrument of pressure and has been transformed into one of the central tools of political manoeuvring and perception operations aimed at winning elections,” Ozkan wrote.
Ozkan is accused by Turkish prosecutors of membership of the so-called “Ekrem Imamoglu Criminal Organisation for Profit”, allegedly as a “member with special status”. He is also accused of engaging in “military and political espionage”.
Ozkan denies the allegations and says he has been imprisoned because of Imamoglu’s election victories. He has emerged as the opposition’s main rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I was targeted not because I engaged in any conduct contrary to morality or the law, but because I professionally managed Imamoglu’s four election campaigns, all of which ended in victory. The real reason I was arrested twice in succession on baseless, unsubstantiated allegations is the belief that I made a strategic contribution to Imamoglu’s electoral successes,” Ozkan said.
Ozkan founded Oyku Agency in 1985. He provided political communications consultancy to various leaders, candidates and parties.
In 2009, he managed Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s mayoral campaign for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; in 2014, the CHP’s local election campaigns; and in 2014 and 2019, Imamoglu’s election campaigns.
In addition to Turkey, Ozkan has supported the campaigns of numerous candidates in other countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Hungary.
Ozkan said in his letter that all the meetings and contacts cited as evidence for the allegation of organisational membership were “an ordinary and professional part of the political consulting work I carried out”.
Regarding the espionage accusation, Ozkan said the prosectors office failed to provide any evidence.
“This attempt is so irrational that neither the prosecutor’s submission nor the detention order presents a single piece of evidence specifying what classified information was obtained, by what means, to whom it was allegedly transferred, in exchange for what, or how,” Ozkan wrote.
The Istanbul prosecution is demanding a 2,352-year sentence for jailed Istanbul Mayor and opposition presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, claiming he led a major corruption network.
The indictment, named “Imamoglu Organised Crime Group for Profit”, charges him with “leading a vast corruption network that cost the state billions of lira, bribery, establishing an organisation for committing crime, forgery, rigging public bids and disinformation”.
In addition to Imamoglu, 402 other names, including other mayors, municipal administrators, businessmen and opposition party members, are included in the indictment as suspects.
Imamoglu and the CHP reject the claims and accuse the government of using the courts to eliminate political rivals.
