‘’Like everyone else, I would like to know why he is under arrest. And I am saying that I stand beside anyone who has been victimised by the law, and that his process must come to an end… If I have the opportunity, I would like to visit him,” independent news site T24 quoted the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s Istanbul mayor as saying in reference to Demirtas.
Imamoglu has been lauded for his inclusive discourse, which breaks away from the staunchly secularist CHP line to include Turkey’s Kurds and conservatives.
The pro-Kurdish HDP supported Imamoglu in the Istanbul mayoral votes as part of a joint opposition effort to win Turkey’s largest city.
Demirtas was arrested in November 2016 and remains in jail facing possible jail sentences totalling more than 100 years on a range of terrorism charges.
He has written two novels and painted to paintings under arrest.
Demirtas, like many figures from the HDP, has been accused of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that has been in armed conflict with Turkish armed forces since the breakdown of a peace process in 2015.
Kurds, who make up roughly 15 percent of Turkey’s population, were at the heart of the March 31 local election campaigns in Turkey.
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