The mayors of Sofia and Athens write in defense of their Istanbul counterpart

The statement comes in the context of a visit by Terziev and six other mayors of European capitals to Istanbul, where they expressed solidarity with the detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Terziev and Doukas emphasized that dozens of opposition mayors in Turkiye have been arrested on dubious charges, characterizing this as a direct attack on local democracy. They wrote that the EU cannot remain silent, as ''Turkiye is an EU candidate country, a crucial trading partner and a strategic neighbour''. ''Turning a blind eye to political repression at the bloc’s borders sends a dangerous signal — not only to Ankara but to other regimes that are watching'', wrote Vasil Terziev and Haris Doukas.
Edited by Ivo Ivanov