Istanbul Mayor: Erdogan Won’t Win Next Presidential Race

According to opinion polls, Imamoglu would beat Erdogan, whose popularity has suffered as a result of a series of political and international crises, and mostly due to the grave economic crisis.

He is cautious about his own prospects. "The opposition parties will work very selectively to decide the best presidential candidate," Imamoglu said.

Asked whether he would accept the presidential nomination, Imamoglu did not say yes - but kept the doors open.

"I believe that when the day comes, the six opposition parties will make the best choice. For now, I don't have this in my agenda. My only agenda is Istanbul," he said.

Shunned on his previous visit Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu visits Sarajevo's old town with his Sarajevo counterpart Benjamina Karic. Photo: Istanbul Municipality

The mayor was visiting Bosnia's capital on Monday as a guest of the Sarajevo Municipality and made the visit a showpiece with meetings and a large Ramadan dinner which included more than 200 people including politicians, ambassadors, academics and mayors from Bosnia but also from Serbia and Montenegro.

In 2019, Imamoglu was side-lined by Bosniak leaders who feared angering President Erdogan's government.

At the time, Imamoglu met only a few Bosniak officials while his former counterpart, Abdullah Skaka, from the main Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA refused to meet him.

However, on Monday, Imamoglu was happily hosted by Sarajevo's current Mayor, Benjamina Karic, who was elected last year after the SDA's defeat in local elections.

After their meeting and a joint visit to Sarajevo's Old Town, Imamoglu told BIRN in an interview that after that first disappointing visit, he was excited to be in Sarajevo...