https://greekcitytimes.com/2019/07/02/istanbuls-mayor-imamoglu-cyprus/
Turkey’s main opposition, the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won the do-over election in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, on June 23, which will be his second mayoral position in the city.
The “Cyprus monument” he erected in Istanbul in 2017 represents his nationalistic stance on Cyprus, which takes pride in Turkish occupation of the island and disregards its Greek history and identity.
Imamoglu’s interest in Cyprus has a lot of history behind it. He moved to Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus at the age 18 in the late 1980s. He studied at university there for two years and played football for the team “Turkish Hearths Limassol” (Türk Ocağı Limassol – TOL). During his mayoral election campaign in May, Imamoglu went back to the occupied territories in Cyprus or the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (TRNC) and was also welcomed by its ‘President,’ Mustafa Akinci.
He also visited the memorial tomb of Rauf Denktas, the once head of the “Turkish Resistance Organization” (TMT) that is known to have committed many crimes in Cyprus and paved the way for Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974. Denktas became the “founding president” of the “TRNC” that is recognized only by Turkey.
During his speech at Denktas’s memorial tomb, Imamoglu said he is honored to have personally known Denktas. He continued:
“When you get elected to any government office, you should make your first state visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. That is why I am here.