Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen against likening Turkey to Russia and China. “Placing Turkey on the same plane as Russia and China runs contrary to the EU’s own geopolitical realities and strategic interests,” wrote İmamoğlu in an op-ed for POLITICO published Tuesday. The mayor’s comments come in response to von der Leyen’s recent controversial statement that “we must succeed in completing the European continent so that it does