A Turkish court has ordered the jailed leader of rival party, including on corruption charges

“Rights, law, justice!” protests outside Istanbul city hall, after a day of protests against the resignation of the mayor

Criminal cases that could have resulted in prison sentences were already faced by him before he was arrested. He was also appealing a 2022 conviction for insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.

Prosecutors requested the formal arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the top challenger to the president, for alleged corruption and terror links.

The courthouse was closed and access was barred using barricades on local roads. Hundreds of police officers and over a dozen water cannon trucks were deployed. Still, hundreds gathered in front of the building shouting: “Rights, law, justice!”

Others gathered outside the Istanbul city hall or took to the streets to denounce the mayor’s resignation for a fourth night of nationwide protests, in the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade.

Police in Istanbul used rubber bullets and pepper spray to push back hundreds of protesters who attempted to break through a barricade in front of the historic aqueduct while throwing flares, stones and other objects at officers. Police also dispersed groups that had rallied outside of the city hall for a third night running, after the opposition Republican People’s Party leader, Ozgur Ozel, delivered a speech in support of the mayor.

The minister said that 323 people were arrested after the Saturday night protests. He said that there would be no tolerance for people who want to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos.

Turkish police broke up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as Izmir, the Aegean coastal city, and they used force at times. Thousands of people marched in several cities to call for the resignation of the government.

Earlier, Erdogan said the government would not tolerate street protests and accused the opposition party of links to corruption and terror organizations.

The Istanbul governor’s office imposed restrictions on the entry and exit of vehicles that were transporting people considered likely to participate in illegal activities, as well as expanding a ban on demonstrations until March 26.

A protest against Erdogan’s arrest in Istanbul, the country’s most populous post-Militardi-Burgini primary

The leader of the party was accused of turning the party into an apparatus to exonerate a group of people who have become blinded by money.

The Republican People’s Party, or Republicans, began holding a primary election to endorse his candidacy despite his formal arrest.

Citizens are being asked to vote in a symbolic election on Sunday, through ballot boxes set up across Turkey to show their support for Imamoglu.

The public is urged to safeguard the ballot boxes in the upcoming primary by Imamoglu in a statement that was posted just before his arrival.

In a previous message, he described his arrest as a coup and accused the government of exploiting the judiciary and worsening the country’s troubled economy.

The president’s party lost its control over Istanbul in March after the elected Mayor of the city, Imtrott, was elected. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.

A university nullified his degree this week due to an alleged scam in his transfer more than 30 years ago. The decision effectively bars him from running for president, since the position requires candidates to be university graduates. Imamoglu had vowed to challenge the decision.

The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul and key rival Recep Tayyip Erdogan on corruption charges has provoked a political activism in Turkey

The international environment allows Turkey’s leader to proceed without fear of scrutiny because the European Union and the US are not concerned with other countries’ internal affairs.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an author of a biography of Erdogan, said with Imamoglu’s arrest, Erdogan was taking an extreme measure against his key opponent.

Cools said they deplored the decision to detain the Mayor of Istanbul and demanded his release.

The accusations that lawyers didn’t have access to show how politically motivated the whole thing has been.

Mansur Yavas, a member of the Turkish parliament and a fellow member of the main opposition party, criticized the lack of confidentiality in the proceedings.

Thearity boxes are symbolic ballot boxes the party has set up to allow people not in the party to show their support for the mayor.

Government officials insist that Turkey’s courts are free from politically motivated actions against opposition figures.

ISTANBUL — A court formally arrested the mayor of Istanbul and key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday and ordered him jailed pending the outcome of a trial on corruption charges.