Hospitality and politics are connected since time immemorial, but here is a nice petite histoire: the winner of the local elections in Istanbul, re-elected Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (and a leading Opposition candidate for the Turkish Presidency in 2028) is no stranger to the hospitality industry, having run his own small meatball restaurant in the historic metropolis in the 1990s. When Erdogan was...Hospitality and politics are connected since time immemorial, but here is a nice petite histoire: the winner of the local elections in Istanbul, re-elected Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (and a leading Opposition candidate for the Turkish Presidency in 2028) is no stranger to the hospitality industry, having run his own small meatball restaurant in the historic metropolis in the 1990s. When Erdogan was elected as Istanbul Mayor in the mid-1990s he enjoyed a free meal at Imamoglu's restaurant! (Source: The Guardian). Another interesting detail is that Imamoglou hails from a Greek-speaking minority and a village near Trabzon where they still speak "Romeyka", an isolate Greek dialect, which is of some significance for his enemies but also for a city also known as Constantinople. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/01/who-is-ekrem… Show more

Ekrem Imamoğlu, the Istanbul mayor emerging as likely challenger to Erdoğan | Turkey | The Guardian

Affable opposition leader has same roots as Turkish president, but says ‘our ideas are largely opposite’