Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu arrested on corruption charges amid protests
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been formally arrested after a court ordered his pre-trial detention on corruption charges.
İmamoğlu was first taken into custody on Wednesday, days before he was expected to be nominated as the presidential candidate for Turkey's largest opposition party, the CHP.
The move has sparked nightly nationwide demonstrations, with up to 300,000 rallying in Istanbul on Friday night alone according to CHP figures.
The popular opposition politician is facing accusations of terrorism and corruption in two separate proceedings against 106 people, including the mayor's advisers and many others.
Critics see his arrest as an attempt to eliminate a potential rival to Erdoğan - a charge strongly rejected by the long-standing leader's government.
The judge's order for pre-trial detention on Sunday came in connection with the corruption charge, with İmamoğlu being accused of membership in a criminal organization, extortion, bribery, fraud and bid rigging.
The mayor is also accused of supporting the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in the terrorism investigation.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said the charge was linked to cooperation between the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM party in the local elections.
Public prosecutors argue that the cooperation helped to extend the influence of the banned PKK.
İmamoğlu has vehemently denied the allegations and said on Saturday that they are based on "fabricated" reports.
CHP leader Özgür Özel said that there were indications that İmamoğlu would be taken to Marmara Prison in Istanbul's Silivri district.
Protests against the mayor's arrest continued across Turkey on Saturday despite bans on demonstrations, with the Interior Ministry saying on X that 323 people were detained.
CHP holds primary despite İmamoğlu's arrest
Also on Sunday, the CHP went ahead with plans to nominate İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate in a primary vote on Sunday.
In the nationwide ballot, the party's 1.7 million members are called upon to back İmamoğlu for the 2028 presidential election.
Broadcaster Halk TV showed images of queues outside polling stations in cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman on Sunday morning.
In addition to the 4,000 party ballot boxes set up in the country, as many symbolic "solidarity ballot boxes" are to be set up in which all citizens can cast a vote.
İmamoğlu's victory in Istanbul in 2019 - and re-election in 2024 - were seen as bitter defeats for Erdoğan's AKP party, which had previously governed the city.
Istanbul is Turkey's most populous metropolis and is of major importance to the country's politics and economics.
Control of the mayor's office is also highly symbolic, as the position was formerly held by Erdoğan from 1994.
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