Istanbul’s new mayor warns Erdogan against curbing his powers

Source:Financial Times Date:29Jun2019

On Friday, his first day in the job, Mr Imamoglu used a press conference with international media to voice alarm at a circular issued by the government last month removing the right of municipal mayors to elect officials at companies linked to the municipality.

“I received a circular for the limitation of my powers . . . They may plan other bureaucratic obstacles and challenges,” he said. “This is as if they have not learnt their lesson on [the election of] 23 June and they want another lesson.”

He added: “We believe that such political manoeuvres are counter-productive. The people will react to that.”