Pallade Veneta - 'We hold onto one another and keep fighting,' says wife of jailed Istanbul mayor

"It's an extremely difficult time for our children and for me... but we hold onto one another," Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, 51, told AFP in her first interview with foreign media.

Her husband -- the only politician seen as capable of beating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- faces 2,430 years in prison from a blizzard of charges many see as a bid to stop him standing against Erdogan in 2028.

But Dilek Kaya Imamoglu said they have taken strength from her husband's message "to never lose hope".

Imamoglu's arrest in March, just before he was named as the main opposition CHP's candidate for the presidential race, sparked Turkey's worst bout of street unrest since 2013.

He is accused of heading a sprawling criminal network and exerting influence "like an octopus" in a 4,000-page indictment that covers everything from graft and bribery to money laundering. The first court hearing is set for March 9.

But his wife warned that "the public conscience cannot be silenced. These hardships do not lead me to despair but to solidarity. I trust the will and conscience of the people," she said.

'Freedom is in my mind'-

She described how hundreds of police descended on the Istanbul mayor's home on the morning of his arrest. "I was shocked by what I saw... My heart felt like it was beating outside my chest. I will never forget the worry in our children's eyes."

But Imamoglu turned to them and said: "We will hold our heads high and never lose hope."

"And instead of bowing to it, we chose to fight," his wife said.

Dilek Kaya Imamoglu said the family is allowed weekly visits to see him in Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, where several other leading opponents of Erdogan are also being held.

Despite the serious charges he is facing, Imamoglu's spirit is high, she said.

She described those moments as "very precious, but also very heavy".

Her husband "resists by working, taking notes, generating new ideas for our country's future and reading books".

"'My freedom is in my mind,' he says. Messages of solidarity, letters, and visitors give him incredible strength. It helps him feel that he is not alone inside, but together with millions."

- Western silence 'disappointed us'-

Rights groups have accused Europe of turning a deaf ear to what they call the erosion of the rule of law and judicial independence in Turkey, as they lash out at a government crackdown on opponents and the jailing of Erdogan's political rivals.

"Frankly, this silence has disappointed us," Dilek Kaya Imamoglu said.

"While the will of millions in Turkey is being ignored, countries that claim to defend democracy have often chosen to remain silent," she said.

But she added: "Our greatest support is not international reaction, but the solidarity of millions in Turkey who believe in justice, freedom and democracy".

She also expressed her solidarity with the families of other leading figures who have fallen foul of Erdogan, including popular Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas and philanthropist Osman Kavala, both of whom have been behind bars for nearly a decade.

-'We are not alone'-

"Today I share the patience and resilience of the spouses of Selahattin Demirtas and Osman Kavala," Dilek Kaya Imamoglu told AFP in the written interview.

"The endurance of the families of those unjustly and unlawfully deprived of their freedom guides me, because we are not alone," the author and activist added.

Asked if she worries Imamoglu might face a similar fate, she said: "As a spouse, it is impossible not to worry. Decisions by the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court are being ignored. Our constitution is not being applied, and attempts are being made to normalise lawlessness."

With "so much injustice", it is impossible to predict the outcome of her husband's case, said Dilek Kaya Imamoglu.

"But I want to believe that justice will be applied equally for all, and that Ekrem (Imamoglu) and his colleagues will eventually be acquitted, for the sake of all 86 million citizens of our country."

Dilek Kaya Imamoglu has stepped into the spotlight while her husband is in jail, attending rallies and meeting the families of the party's other jailed officials in an effort to keep their cases in the public eye.

But she ruled out entering politics.

"The politician in our household is Ekrem," she said.

But she was determined to do her bit to repair the "heavy wounds" she said democracy has suffered in Turkey.

"Press freedom, judicial independence, and fundamental rights and freedoms are under pressure," she said.

But she remains optimistic.

"No matter how intense the pressure, the conscience of the people will ultimately prevail. That is where I draw my hope."

U.Paccione--PV