Supporters of the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, said that corruption charges against him were a ploy to hobble the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Unlike X, which has suspended social media accounts at the request of the Turkish government, Meta says it has faced heavy fines in Turkey for refusing to do so.

The head of Turkey’s main opposition party has visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu after six nights of massive protests calling for his release.

Istanbul's opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday elected an interim mayor to run the city, broadcaster NTV said, after mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicised.

A Turkish court on Sunday jailed President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, pending trial on graft charges, in a move likely to stoke the country's biggest protests against the government in more than a decade.

Turkey has arrested the lawyer for jailed political opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in what Imamoglu Thursday called a legal coup against democracy.

People wave flags of Turkey atop a garbage truck during a rally called by the Republican People's Party (CHP) in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem Imanoglu in Maltepe, on the outskirts of Istanbul on March 29, 2025 (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP)

A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than a decade.

The head of Turkey’s main opposition party visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Tuesday after six nights of massive protests calling for his release. Imamoglu, arrested on March 19 on corruption charges,