The following statement in support of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul, translated into English, was originally prepared by the city of Paris on the initiative of Mayor Anne Hidalgo:
We, European mayors, condemn in the strongest possible terms the arrest of our colleague Ekrem Imamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul, and of local elected representatives in Turkey.
We denounce his arbitrary imprisonment and express our deep concern at this situation and at the repeated attacks on fundamental rights and municipal freedoms in Turkey. These arrests, together with the constant pressure exerted on local elected representatives, mark a new stage in the violation of democratic principles in Turkey.
Elected democratically, Ekrem Imamoğlu, symbolises hope for a future based on pluralism, justice and respect for fundamental freedoms.
We therefore call on the Turkish authorities to :
- Immediately release the Mayor of Istanbul and opposition politicians arrested for political reasons;
- Put an end to prosecutions, political pressure and attacks on local freedoms;
- Guarantee respect for democratic freedoms and human rights in Turkey.
More broadly, we call on the European institutions to take immediate action to secure the release of our colleague and to take all necessary measures to guarantee respect for the rule of law in Turkey.
In this ordeal, we would like to express our solidarity with the people of Istanbul and to all those in Turkey who are concerned about the fate of our colleague.
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List of signatures (updated throughout the day):
– Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris
– Burkhard Jung, Mayor of Leipzig and President of Eurocities
– Sibylle Keupen, Mayor of Aachen
– Frederick Brütting, Mayor of Aalen
– Femke Halsema, Mayor of Amsterdam
– Háris Doúkas, Mayor of Athens
– Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona
– Kai Wegner, Governing Mayor of Berlin
– Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga
– Andreas Bovenschulte, Mayor and President of the Senate of Bremen
– Philippe Close, Mayor of Brussels
– Matteo Lepore, Mayor of Bologna
– Katja Dörner, Mayor of Bonn
– Pierre Hurmic, Mayor of Bordeaux
– Christine Bost, President of Bordeaux Metropole
– Dr. Thorsten Kornblum, Mayor of Braunschweig
– Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest
– Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj Napoca
– Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne
– Thomas Westphal, Mayor of Dortmund
– Dr. Stephan Keller, Mayor of Dusseldorf
– Tim Kruithoff, Mayor of Emden
– Dr. Florian Janik, Mayor of Erlangen
– Thomas Kufen, Lord Mayor of Essen
– Matthias Klopfer, Mayor of Esslingen
– Sara Funaro, Mayor of Florence
– Mike Josef, Mayor of Frankfurt
– Tanya Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo
– Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdansk
– Mathias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent
– Lluc Salellas i Vilar, Mayor of Girona
– Urte Schwerdtner, Mayor of Goslar
– Matthias Trepper, Mayor of Gutersloh
– Stefan Pålsson, Mayor of Hamstad
– Belit Onay, Mayor of Hannover
– Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg
– Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki
– Johan Persson, Mayor of Kalmar
– Ulf Kämpfer, Mayor of Kiel
– Grégoire Junod, Mayor of Lausanne
– Jan Lindenau, Mayor of Lubeck
– Nino Haase, Mayor of Mainz
– Christian Specht, Mayor of Mannheim
– Marc Aloy, Mayor of Manresa
– Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan
– Dieter Reiter, Lord Mayor of Munich
– Charalambos Prountzos, Mayor of Nicosia
– Marcus König, Mayor of Nuremberg
– Kazim Kurt, Mayor of Odunpazari
– Jürgen Krogmann, Mayor of Oldenburg
– Eirik Lae Solberg, Governing Mayor of Oslo
– Mike Schubert, Lord Mayor of Potsdam
– Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, Mayor of Regensburg
– Nathalie Appéré, Mayor of Rennes
– Heida Björg Hilmisdóttir, Mayor of Reykjavik
– Vilnis Ķirsis, Mayor of Riga
– Roberto Gualtieri, Mayor of Rome
– Carola Schouten, Mayor of Rotterdam
– Peter Reiß, Mayor of Schwabach
– Dr. Bernd Vöhringer, Lord Mayor of Sindelfingen
– Christian Gangl, Mayor of Sindelfingen and President of Eurotowns
– Mikael Grannas, Mayor of Sipoo
– Bastian Sieler, Mayor of Stendal
– Karin Wanngård, Mayor of Stockholm
– Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg
– Jevgeni Ossinovski, Mayor of Tallinn
– Kalervo Kummola, Mayor of Tampere
– Dominic Fritz, Mayor of Timisoara
– Minna Arve, Mayor of Turku
– Sharon Dijksma, Mayor of Utrecht
– Tomas Häyry, Mayor of Vaasa
– Malin Lauber, Mayor of Växjö
– Uwe Schneidewind, Mayor of Wuppertal
– Dejan Tomašević, Mayor of Zagreb
– Dario Nardella, MEP, and former Mayor of Florence
– Eurocities
– The Council of European Municipalities and Regions
– The International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF)
