More than 15 million voted for embattled Istanbul mayor amid huge protests over his arrest.
Close to 15 million people voted for jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a presidential primary organised by Turkiye’s main opposition CHP, municipal officials said.
In a sign of growing national support, the party announced late on Monday that an estimated 1.7 million members were joined by 13 million non-party members in supporting Imamoglu to become its official candidate for the next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2028.
Mass protests have broken out since Imamoglu, widely seen as the top challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday. On Sunday, he was formally jailed, exacerbating the unrest.
Erdogan’s critics insist that it was the looming primary that triggered the arrest. People turned out in such large numbers that voting was extended by three and a half hours.
Erdogan’s government has denied that the arrest of Imamoglu was politically motivated, insisting that Turkiye’s courts are independent.
Mehmet Celik from the Daily Sabah pro-government daily told Al Jazeera that the CHP and government critics must come up with answers to the “serious allegations” against Imamoglu.
However, the CHP sought to double down on the claims as it established that Imamoglu was its official candidate.
“The number of votes for Ekrem Imamoglu from our members and the solidarity ballot box is over 14 million 850 thousand,” wrote chairman Ozgur Ozel on X. “Today’s results have completely opened Erdogan’s legitimacy to question and made an early election ballot box inevitable. Let’s come out and challenge!”
‘Very happy’
Imamoglu was ordered officially jailed by an Istanbul court early on Sunday, pending trial on corruption charges following last week’s detention, which triggered mass protests across the country. A separate anti-terrorism charge was dismissed by the court.
Imamoglu was taken to Marmara Prison on Sunday near Istanbul’s Silivri district. He has denied all the allegations and has called for more nationwide protests.
In a statement from prison, Imamoglu said the “record level of participation” in the primary made him “very happy”.
In a separate statement on X, Ozel also complained about efforts to “suppress” the voice of the opposition, as the government sought to order the closure of hundreds of social media accounts on the X platform via the BTK information agency.
The Elon Musk-owned free-speech extolling company announced its objections to “multiple court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts of news organizations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkiye”.
However, it also suspended several accounts linked to the opposition. Politico reported that many of the accounts were associated with university activists organising protests.
Turkiye’s Ministry of the Interior said the authorities had found hundreds of social media accounts suspected of inciting hatred.
Late on Sunday night, protesters in Istanbul and Ankara were seen clashing with police. Turkiye’s Halk TV reported that several people have been detained.
On Monday morning, several Turkish media outlets also reported that at least three journalists were detained.
Al Jazeera’s Aksel Zaimovic, reporting from Istanbul, said the government has deployed one of the largest instances of police presence across the city and in nearby areas.
“Authorities said that this massive security presence is needed to maintain public order,” he said, noting that police responded with tear gas and water cannon at protesters who threw flares and bottles.
Tansel Can Emzikli, a video journalist, told Al Jazeera that at least six police officers threw him on the ground and began kicking him.
The government of Erdogan has condemned the protesters for stoking instability.
Turkiye’s interior ministry has announced the “temporary” suspension from office of Imamoglu, citing his detention.
