As leaders from 36 NATO member states gathered in the Turkish capital Ankara for a landmark summit, a high-stakes domestic political trial took another dramatic turn on Wednesday, when Istanbul mayor and leading Turkish opposition figure Ekrem Imamoglu was removed from the courtroom for the second time in as many weeks. The 55-year-old politician, widely viewed as the primary potential challenger to long-serving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in future national elections, was ejected over accusations that he disrupted courtroom order and discipline, according to Turkish broadcaster T24, which shared the update on social platform X. Imamoglu has remained in pre-trial detention since March 2024, and his ongoing trial, held at a prison courthouse since March 2025, includes 414 co-defendants, 59 of whom are also being held in custody. The latest confrontation between the mayor and the presiding judge comes one week after his first removal from the court, which stemmed from a heated argument over the schedule and procedures for defense arguments. Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the judge had already warned Imamoglu that he would face ejection again if he interrupted proceedings, after ordering the mayor to present his defense that day. Before bailiffs removed him from the courtroom, Imamoglu pushed back against the court’s timeline, questioning why his full defense was required to be wrapped up by July 9, according to independent journalist Furkan Karabay, who has covered every hearing of the high-profile case. “I did not come here to be questioned. I came to express my demands,” Imamoglu stated before the removal order was enforced, Turkish opposition newspaper Bir Gun reported. As global leaders gathered less than 300 kilometers away in Ankara, the mayor directly highlighted the political timing of the court’s actions, asking: “With the leaders of the entire world present in Turkey, in Ankara, how and to whom will you explain that Ekrem Imamoglu is being silenced?” He also made a sharp rebuke of Turkey’s judicial leadership, calling the Ministry of Justice a “ministry of collapse.” Imamoglu’s defense attorney, Tora Pakin, slammed the ejection decision as arbitrary and unlawful, noting the unusual timing of the confrontation as the NATO summit drew global attention to Turkey. The case has already drawn widespread condemnation from opposition political figures, who argue the charges against Imamoglu are politically motivated. Ozgur Ozel, the newly elected leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), attended Wednesday’s hearing and described the entire trial as a “sham.” “Nothing about this case is acceptable; even the worst courts at least try to pretend to be courts but here they don’t even bother with that,” Ozel told reporters after the hearing. In a statement shared on his official X account, Imamoglu denounced the ejection as a major violation of his rights and the “height of injustice.” He argued that court officials have deliberately restricted and ignored arguments presented by him and his legal team, the targets of the central indictment in the case. “This proves that the entire Istanbul metropolitan authority case has collapsed and is turning into a series of extrajudicial decisions,” he added. The trial comes amid a broader government crackdown on dissenting voices in Turkey in the lead-up to the NATO summit, which has seen dozens of critical figures arrested in recent weeks. Imamoglu, who won re-election as mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2024, was taken into custody on the same day he was officially nominated as the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 Turkish presidential election. He has repeatedly denied all charges that he led a large criminal network, and faces a total of 142 separate counts. If convicted on all charges, he risks a cumulative prison sentence of 2,430 years.