Tens of thousands of protesters have taken part in demonstrations across Turkey after the main rival to the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was formally arrested and charged with corruption.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was due to be selected as the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2028 presidential nominee in a vote on Sunday.
In response to his arrest, Sunday night saw a ramping up of the worst unrest the country has seen in more than a decade – with protesters fired upon with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Imamoglu said the allegations against him are politically motivated. “I will never bow,” he wrote on X before he was remanded in custody.
Erdogan has condemned the demonstrations and accused the CHP of trying to “disturb the peace and polarise our people”.
Crowds amassed near Istanbul’s city hall by early evening on Sunday for a fifth night, and could be seen waving Turkish flags and chanting in front of a row of riot police.