Jailed Turkish opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu on Saturday called for unity against what he called his "unlawful" arrest, in a letter read at a large Istanbul rally. "I am not afraid at all. Because our dear nation is united,

The arrest and recent imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu sent shockwaves through Turkey, marking a decisive shift toward full autocracy. On March 19, police officers — acting on instructions from the ruling Justice and Development Party,

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 22-year rule, was jailed on 23 March pending trial on corruption charges. View on euronews

İstanbul mayor and Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, detained on Wednesday on corruption and terror charges, was arrested and sent to prison on Sunday.

A new development has emerged in the ongoing protests sparked by the detention of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The first indictment has been prepared against those who participated in the İmamoğlu protests.

Turkish President Erdogan's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters leads to over 1,000 arrests following the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the top rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said his lawyer had also been arrested on false pretenses. “There is no end to lies or slander … This time, my lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” İmamoğlu wrote late Thursday night.

There is currently no obstacle for İmamoğlu, who was announced as the CHP's presidential candidate, to be elected despite his arrest.

Erdoğan's arrest of the Istanbul mayor is aimed at quelling an increasingly vocal political opposition. But Ekrem İmamoğlu is also indispensable to the Turkish president as a symbol of religious toleration — and a foil to Erdoğan's Islamist ideal.