Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul, is the winner of the City Heroes award at the Eurocities Awards 2026. This award recognises politicians for their exceptional leadership or initiatives, at the local or European level.
Mayor İmamoğlu was chosen for his extraordinary leadership as Mayor of Istanbul. Despite being unjustly imprisoned since March 2025 and facing politically motivated charges, he remains a powerful symbol of local democracy, public service and resilience. Read his acceptance letter below.
**********
I accept this meaningful award not for myself, but on behalf of the people of Istanbul.
This is not simply an honour given to one mayor. It is a message of solidarity with the democratic will of Istanbul, with elected local government, and with millions of citizens in Turkiye who continue to defend democracy under immense pressure.
Today, I speak to you from my prison cell in Silivri. But this is not only about my freedom. Turkiye is facing a broader democratic crisis.
The pressure is no longer directed at individuals alone. It is increasingly aimed at democratic institutions and at the legitimacy of electoral outcomes.
Across the country, elected mayors are being removed from office through judicial interventions. Decisions made by citizens at the ballot box are being challenged, weakened and, in some cases, effectively overturned.
And now, Turkiye’s main opposition party is also being targeted. Its institutional integrity, political existence, and essential role in democratic politics are under pressure.
Can all these developments be dismissed as a personal case? As a local dispute? As an internal party matter?
They cannot.
What we are witnessing is systematic pressure on democratic life itself. The right to vote is being hollowed out. The right to stand for election is being emptied of meaning. Elections remain in appearance, while their political meaning is stripped away.
This is about democracy itself. It is about the right of citizens to shape their own future. It is about whether the people’s will can be neutralised under the cover of legality.
Yet despite all this, I remain hopeful.
Because I have seen the strength of our people. I have seen citizens defend their rights, their institutions, and their belief in a better future.
Istanbul, and Turkiye, know how to overcome the walls placed before them.
The spirit that defended a tree in Gezi Park, the spirit that defended the ballot box, and the spirit that today defends Istanbul’s democratic rights all come from the same source: dignity, justice and the desire to live freely.
We do not give in.
We overcome the walls placed before us through the will of our people, through law and through solidarity.
What is happening to democracy in Turkiye cannot be treated as a purely domestic matter. It matters for Europe’s democratic future. It matters for Europe’s security. It matters for peace and stability.
The answer to this pressure must be solidarity. It must be the courage to stand with one another.
That is why the solidarity shown by Eurocities matters so deeply.
Cities are not only service providers. They are living spaces of democracy, freedom, equality and shared life.
When the elected will of one city is placed under pressure, defending it becomes the responsibility of all democratic cities.
This award is a hand of friendship extended to Istanbul. It is also a declaration that cities will stand together in defence of democracy.
Today, we need that declaration more than ever.
There may be walls in Silivri.
But the will of Istanbul knows no walls.
Nor does the solidarity of cities that believe in democracy.
I accept this award on behalf of the people of Istanbul, my colleagues, and the millions in Turkiye who continue to believe in democracy.
Thank you all.
Istanbul will prevail. Democracy will prevail.
