The arrest was made after Turkish authorities raided the Istanbul mayor’s home earlier this week.
A Turkish court on March 23 ordered the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, a top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu will remain jailed as he awaits a trial on corruption charges. He was detained after authorities raided his home earlier this week, kicking off the largest swathe of street protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade.
Imamoglu’s arrest deepened concerns over democratic backsliding for his supporters and many European leaders, including outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called it “depressing for democracy in Turkey, but certainly also depressing for the relationship between Europe and Turkey.”
Some see his arrest as a political move to ice out a major contender for Turkey’s 2028 presidential election.
Government officials insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently and have denied accusations of political motivations to take legal actions against opposition figures.
The court moved to jail Imamoglu on suspicion of running a criminal organization, the prosecutor’s office said. They accuse him of accepting bribes, extortion, bid-rigging, and illegally recording personal data.
On Sunday night, 323 people were detained for disturbances and protests, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Hundreds of thousands have joined public demonstrations in support of Imamoglu.
While many of the protests have been peaceful, some have sparked violence, with police responding with water cannons, pepper spray, tear gas, and shooting plastic pellets at protesters in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. Some protesters had thrown stones, fireworks, and other missiles at riot police.
Imamoglu’s arrest followed more than 1.5 million members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) beginning to hold a presidential primary election to endorse him as their candidate. With the Istanbul mayor being the party’s sole candidate, the primary, which was announced in February, was mostly symbolic.
The Republican People’s Party set up symbolic ballot boxes throughout Turkey to give others who are not party members an opportunity to show support for Imamoglu. Large crowds amassed Sunday morning to cast “solidarity ballots.”
By Jacob Burg
