Jailed Imamoglu elected Turkish opposition’s presidential candidate

In a presidential primary organized by Turkiye’s main opposition CHP, close to 15 million people voted for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, according to municipal officials.

Late on Monday, the party announced that an estimated 1.7 million party members were supporting Imamoglu as its official candidate for the 2028 presidential election, in a sign of growing national support.

Since Imamoglu’s arrest on Wednesday, which was widely accepted as the main rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there have been numerous demonstrations. He was formally imprisoned on Sunday, compounding the unrest.

Erdogan’s critics claim that the arrest was caused by the upcoming primary. Voting was delayed by three and a half hours because of the large turnout.

The government of Erdogan has disputed that Imamoglu’s arrest was motivated by politics, insisting that Turkiye’s courts are independent.

According to Mehmet Celik of the Daily Sabah pro-government newspaper&nbsp, Imamoglu’s supporters and the CHP must come up with solutions to the “serious allegations” against him.

The CHP, however, made an effort to refute the allegations after establishing Imamoglu as its preferred candidate.

Over 14 million 850 thousand people cast ballots for Ekrem Imamoglu, according to chairman Ozgur Ozel, on X. The results of today completely cast doubt on Erdogan’s legitimacy, causing an early election ballot box to be required. Come out and face challenges”!

“Very happy,” I said.

Imamoglu’s formal imprisonment was set to begin early on Sunday in an Istanbul court, pending the outcome of his case against the Istanbul court for corruption charges following his detention last week, which sparked widespread protests. The court rejected a separate anti-terrorist charge.

On Sunday, Imamoglu was taken to Marmara Prison, a neighborhood of Istanbul’s Silivri district. He has called for more widespread protests and has refuted every allegation.

Imamoglu said the “record level of participation” in the primary made him “very happy,” according to a statement from prison.

Ozel also criticized government efforts to “suppress” the opposition’s voice in a separate statement on X because the BTK information agency requested the government’s request to require the closure of hundreds of social media accounts on the X platform.

The Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority has issued numerous court orders to block over 700 accounts held by news organizations, journalists, political figures, students, and other individuals within Turkiye, according to the Elon Musk-owned free-speech extolling company.

However, it also suspended a number of accounts connected to the opposition. Many of the accounts, according to Polititico, were connected to university activists organizing protests.

According to the Turkiye’s interior ministry, the authorities discovered hundreds of social media accounts that are thought to be livid.

Istanbul and Ankara protesters were seen arguing with police late on Sunday night. Numerous people have been detained, according to a report from Turkish television station Halk TV.

At least three journalists were detained, according to reports from several Turkish media outlets on Monday morning.

According to Aksel Zaimovic, a reporter for Al Jazeera from Istanbul, the government has deployed one of its largest police forces throughout the city and nearby.

Authorities claimed that police used tear gas and water cannons to apprehend protesters who threw bottles and flares because they felt a large security presence was required to maintain public order.

A video journalist named Tansel Can Emzikli claimed that at least six police officers kicked and threw him.

Erdogan’s government has condemned the protesters for causing instability.