More than 15 million voted for the mayor of Istanbul besieged in the middle of enormous demonstrations concerning his arrest.
Nearly 15 million people voted for the mayor of Istanbul imprisoned Ekrem Imamoglu in a presidential primary organized by the principal Turkiye opposition CHP, municipal officials said.
In a sign of increasing national support, the party announced late Monday that around 1.7 million members were joined by 13 million non -partisan members to support Imamoglu to become its official candidate for the next presidential election, which should take place in 2028.
Mass demonstrations have broken out since Imamoglu, widely considered as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first challenger, was arrested on Wednesday. On Sunday, he was officially imprisoned, exacerbating the troubles.
Erdogan’s criticisms insist that it was the imminent primary that sparked the arrest. People have proven to be so many that the vote was extended by three and a half hours.
The government of Erdogan denied that the arrest of Imamoglu was politically motivated, insisting that the courts of Turkiye are independent.
Mehmet Celik of Daily Sabah Pro-Government Daily told Al Jazeera that the CHP and government critics were to find answers to “serious allegations” against Imamoglu.
However, the CHP sought to double complaints by establishing that Imamoglu was its official candidate.
“The number of votes for Ekrem Imamoglu of our members and the Uns of Solidarity exceeds 14 million 850 thousand,” wrote President Ozgur Ozel on X. “The results of today have completely opened the legitimacy of Erdogan to question and made a first electoral urn.
‘Very happy’
Imamoglu was officially sentenced to a court in Istanbul on Sunday, pending the trial for corruption after last week’s detention, which sparked mass demonstrations across the country. A distinct anti-terrorism accusation was rejected by the Court.
Imamoglu was taken to Marmara prison on Sunday near the district of Istanbul Silivri. He denied all allegations and called for more national demonstrations.
In a prison statement, Imamoglu said that the “record participation level” in the primary made it “very happy”.
In a separate declaration on X, Ozel also complained of efforts to “delete” the voice of the opposition, while the government sought to order the closure of hundreds of social media accounts on the X platform via the BTK information agency.
The free extension company belonging to Elon Musk has announced its objections to “several judicial orders for the Turkish Authority for Information and Communication Technologies to block more than 700 press accounts, journalists, political, students and other in Turkiye”.
However, he also suspended several accounts related to the opposition. Politico reported that many accounts were associated with university activists organizing demonstrations.
The Turkiye Interior Ministry said the authorities had found hundreds of social media accounts suspected of encouraging hatred.
Late Sunday evening, demonstrators of Istanbul and Ankara were seen to come up against the police. Halk TV from Turkiye reported that several people had been detained.
Monday morning, several Turkish media also reported that at least three journalists had been detained.
Aksel Zaimovic of Al Jazeera, reporting from Istanbul, said that the government had deployed one of the largest cases of police presence across the city and in neighboring regions.
“The authorities said that this massive security presence was necessary to maintain public order,” he said, noting that the police responded with tear gas and water cannons against the demonstrators who threw enlightening rockets and bottles.
Tansel can Emzikli, a video journalist, told Al Jazeera that at least six police officers threw him on the field and had started kicking him.
The Erdogan government has sentenced the demonstrators for granting instability.
The Turkiye Interior Ministry has announced the “temporary” suspension of the Office of Imamoglu, citing its detention.
