Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison. The younger and energetic mayor clearly poses a real threat to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has always been a zero-sum politician willing to resort to almost any means to neutralize his rivals. If a higher court upholds the ban, the public is likely to react with anger. Erdogan is also playing a skillful hand in geopolitics in ways that he hopes will secure his hold.
