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ISTANBUL, Turkey: Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen as a strong potential challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections next year, has been sentenced to jail and banned from politics by a Turkish court.

Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison for insulting public officials in a speech he made after winning Istanbul’s municipal election in 2019.

Imamoglu, who continued to work as usual and dismissed the court proceedings, told thousands of supporters that the verdict marked a “profound unlawfulness” that “proved that there is no justice in today’s Turkey.”

He added that voters would respond in presidential and parliamentary elections, which are due to be held by next June, which could mark the largest political challenge yet for Erdogan, who is seeking to extend his rule into a third decade, despite a collapsing currency and surging inflation.

Imamoglu has been touted as a possible leading challenger to run against Erdogan by a six-party opposition alliance, which has yet to agree on a presidential candidate.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of Imamoglu’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he was cutting short a visit to Germany and returning to Turkey, calling the sentence a “grave violation of the law and justice.”

Meanwhile, US State Department Vedant Patel said the department is “deeply troubled and disappointed” by the sentence, adding “This unjust sentence is inconsistent with respect for human rights, with respect to fundamental freedoms and rule of law.”

Imamoglu was brought to court due to a speech he made following Istanbul’s elections, when he said those who annulled the initial vote, in which he narrowly defeated a candidate from Erdogan’s AK Party, were “fools.”

That remark was a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for using the same language against him, he added.

A jail sentence or political ban on Imamoglu would need to be upheld in appeals courts.

In an interview with Reuters after the ruling, Timucin Koprulu, professor of criminal law at Atilim University in Ankara, said, “The ruling will be final only after the higher court decides whether to uphold the ruling or not. Under these circumstances, it would be wrong to say that the political ban is in place.”