Detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has rejected criticism that he commissioned a statue of Archbishop Makarios, saying the claim distorts the nature of a monument linked to Cyprus and was aimed at discrediting him.
According to Turkish Cypriot media reports, Imamoglu said in a social media post that the work in question concerned Cyprus and had been selected by the Denktaş family. A 2024 Turkish media report on the controversy said the monument, known as the Cyprus Monument, had been approved by Rauf Denktaş’s family and included Denktaş most prominently, while a relief of Makarios appeared only in a section depicting the 1959 London agreements.
Imamoglu said similar claims had been made in the past and that the work, commissioned during his term as mayor of Beylikduzu, was a “Cyprus monument” centred on Turkish soldiers, Turkish Cypriot fighters and Rauf Denktaş.
He said the detail that had triggered public debate was the inclusion of a relief of Makarios, the first president of the Republic of Cyprus, in a scene depicting the 1959 Zurich and London agreements.
Imamoglu said presenting the monument as a statue of Makarios was a distortion of reality and that the claims were intended to defame him.
He also said the judicial process against him was politically motivated, arguing that his detention, continued imprisonment and the revocation of his university diploma were aimed at blocking his candidacy in presidential elections against Tayyip Erdogan.
Imamoglu said the same accusations had resurfaced during the 2019 local elections and that he had previously discussed the Cyprus monument directly with Erdogan, explaining at the time what the memorial actually represented.
The monument symbolises the “peace operation in Cyprus and the struggle of the Turkish side”, Imamoglu said, adding that the claim it was a “statue of Makarios” did not reflect the truth.