İmamoğlu leaves the CHP after 17 years and backs Özel's new party

Istanbul's removed mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu announced on Wednesday from Silivri prison that he is leaving the Republican People's Party after 17 years as a member, and is instead backing the Yeni Parti that Özgür Özel founded on 24 July. "Today, we are opening a NEW path", he wrote, linking to the party's membership and donation pages. İmamoğlu is held in the large corruption case against the Istanbul metropolitan municipality, and his departure removes the last doubt about where the opposition's centre of gravity now sits.

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