Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was due to be selected as the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2028 presidential nominee in a vote on Sunday.

In response to his arrest, Sunday night saw a ramping up of the worst unrest the country has seen in more than a decade – with protesters fired upon with tear gas and rubber bullets, BBC reported. 

Imamoglu said the allegations against him are politically motivated. “I will never bow,” he wrote on X before he was remanded in custody.

Erdogan has condemned the demonstrations and accused the CHP of trying to “disturb the peace and polarise our people”.

Crowds amassed near Istanbul’s city hall by early evening on Sunday for a fifth night and could be seen waving Turkish flags and chanting in front of a row of riot police.

Officers were seen firing water cannons at some protesters and using pepper spray.

Imamoglu’s wife Dilek Kaya Imamoglu addressed the large crowds outside the city hall, telling demonstrators that the “injustice” her husband has faced has “struck a chord with every conscience”.

The demonstrations in response to Imamoglu’s arrest are the largest the country has seen since the Gezi protests of 2013, which began in Istanbul over the demolition of a local park.

MA/PR