Paris has named Istanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, an honorary citizen, with the city’s top official expressing her support for the Turkish opposition figure, AFP reported.
“Imamoglu is today unfairly prevented from representing his party and carrying the voice of millions of Turkish people,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo was quoted as saying after the city council voted to grant him honorary citizenship on Tuesday.
“Deprived of his freedom and his basic rights, he should be able to count on the full support of Paris,” the socialist mayor added, according to the report, describing the French capital as “the capital of human rights.”
She also said that this gesture of support “will perhaps allow the current Turkish authorities to hear the voices of democratic reason,” AFP said.
