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Turkey's main opposition party on Monday officially nominated deposed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as its presidential candidate for 2028. The announcement came after Imamoglu – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival – spent his first night in jail on corruption charges that his backers say are politically motivated.
A large banner of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu attached to a tree in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday, March 20, 2025, during a protest against his arrest. © Emrah Gurel , AP
Istanbul's embattled Ekrem Imamoglu was officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition CHP party for the 2028 elections, a party spokesman told AFP news agency on Monday.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) – the main opposition party and the second-largest party in parliament – held a primary election on Sunday, in which the only candidate was Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Imamoglu has been arrested, interrogated, jailed and stripped of his mayorship in less than a week following a graft and terror probe that the opposition has slammed as a political "coup". He has denied the charges.
Imamoglu's arrest and jailing drew a sharp condemnation late Sunday from France's foreign ministry, which denounced his imprisonment as "a serious attack on democracy".
The announcement came after Imamoglu spent his first night in jail, a day after his suspension as mayor, as 10 journalists were detained for covering the mass demonstrations that his detention sparked across Turkey.
The protests began in Istanbul after Imamoglu's arrest on Wednesday and have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, sparking clashes with riot police in the country's worst street protests in more than a decade.
Early on Monday, police detained 10 Turkish journalists "for covering the protests", the MLSA rights group said in a statement, saying most were covering the mass demonstrations outside City Hall, where tens of thousands rallied late Sunday.
As on previous nights, the gathering descended into fierce clashes between protesters and riot police who could be seen kicking and beating people as they sought to disperse the crowds in Istanbul and elsewhere, AFP correspondents said.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul accused demonstrators of "damaging mosques and cemeteries" in a post on X.
"We ask our citizens to stay away from environments where masked people are present and not to participate in any unauthorised demonstrations. Any attempt to disrupt public order will not be tolerated," he wrote.
Faced with the massive protests, Turkey's authorities sought to shut down more than 700 accounts on X, the online platform said Sunday.
"We object to multiple court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts of news organisations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkiye," its communications team said in a statement.
"We believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country," it said.
Istanbul's embattled Ekrem Imamoglu was officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition CHP party for the 2028 elections, a party spokesman told AFP news agency on Monday.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) – the main opposition party and the second-largest party in parliament – held a primary election on Sunday, in which the only candidate was Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Imamoglu has been arrested, interrogated, jailed and stripped of his mayorship in less than a week following a graft and terror probe that the opposition has slammed as a political "coup". He has denied the charges.
Imamoglu's arrest and jailing drew a sharp condemnation late Sunday from France's foreign ministry, which denounced his imprisonment as "a serious attack on democracy".
The announcement came after Imamoglu spent his first night in jail, a day after his suspension as mayor, as 10 journalists were detained for covering the mass demonstrations that his detention sparked across Turkey.
The protests began in Istanbul after Imamoglu's arrest on Wednesday and have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, sparking clashes with riot police in the country's worst street protests in more than a decade.
Early on Monday, police detained 10 Turkish journalists "for covering the protests", the MLSA rights group said in a statement, saying most were covering the mass demonstrations outside City Hall, where tens of thousands rallied late Sunday.
As on previous nights, the gathering descended into fierce clashes between protesters and riot police who could be seen kicking and beating people as they sought to disperse the crowds in Istanbul and elsewhere, AFP correspondents said.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul accused demonstrators of "damaging mosques and cemeteries" in a post on X.
"We ask our citizens to stay away from environments where masked people are present and not to participate in any unauthorised demonstrations. Any attempt to disrupt public order will not be tolerated," he wrote.
Faced with the massive protests, Turkey's authorities sought to shut down more than 700 accounts on X, the online platform said Sunday.
"We object to multiple court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts of news organisations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkiye," its communications team said in a statement.
"We believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country," it said.
