ISTANBUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced the mayor of Türkiye's largest city Istanbul to prison and barred him from holding political office.

The court ruling for Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was two years, seven months and 15 days in prison over charges of insulting members of Türkiye's Supreme Electoral Council.

However, government critics said this sentence was to remove a potential rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the lead-up to presidential elections next year.

The mayor has seven days to appeal the ruling.

Imamoglu was elected mayor of Istanbul in March 2019, a historic upset for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party which had controlled the city for nearly two decades.

After the government challenged the election results citing irregularities, a repeat election in June even widened Imamoglu's narrow lead of 13,000 votes into a margin of 800,000.

Imamoglu was charged with insulting members of the electoral council in a comment he made in November 2019, where he described the cancellation of the elections as "foolishness."

He denies having insulted the council, saying his comment was in response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu calling him "a fool" who criticizes Türkiye.

In the trial that began on Wednesday morning, the court denied the request by Imamoglu's lawyers that Soylu be heard in court. A second request for an extension was also denied.

According to party officials, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has ended his visit to Germany and is returning to Istanbul. Enditem

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