Approximately 15 million individuals cast their votes in favor of imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a presidential primary organized by the main opposition party, CHP, according to municipal officials.
The party revealed on Monday night that around 1.7 million party members, along with 13 million non-party members, showed their support for Imamoglu to be the official candidate for the upcoming presidential election in 2028, demonstrating a significant level of national backing.
Following Imamoglu’s detention on Wednesday, mass protests erupted in the country, with his formal imprisonment on Sunday further fueling the unrest.
Critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argue that Imamoglu’s arrest was politically motivated, claiming that the surge in voter turnout during the primary played a role in his detention, prompting an extension of the voting period by three and a half hours.
Despite the government’s denial of political motives behind Imamoglu’s arrest, asserting the independence of Turkiye’s courts, Mehmet Celik from the pro-government daily Daily Sabah told Al Jazeera that the CHP and government opponents must address the serious accusations against Imamoglu.
Nevertheless, the CHP reaffirmed its support for Imamoglu, declaring him as their official candidate.
Chairman Ozgur Ozel stated, “The number of votes for Ekrem Imamoglu from our members and the solidarity ballot box exceeds 14 million 850 thousand.” He went on to say, “Today’s results have completely undermined Erdogan’s credibility and made an early election inevitable. Let’s rise up and challenge!”
Imamoglu was officially ordered to be jailed by an Istanbul court on Sunday, facing trial for corruption charges following his detention last week, which sparked widespread protests. The court dismissed a separate anti-terrorism charge against him.
Imamoglu was transferred to Marmara Prison near Istanbul’s Silivri district on Sunday, denying all allegations and calling for more nationwide protests.
Expressing his joy over the record voter turnout in the primary, Imamoglu stated from prison that he was “very happy.”
In a separate statement, Ozel criticized efforts to silence the opposition, as the government moved to shut down hundreds of social media accounts on a particular platform via the BTK information agency.
While the platform objected to court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts, it also suspended several opposition-linked accounts, with reports indicating that many were affiliated with university activists organizing protests.
Turkiye’s Interior Ministry announced the detection of numerous social media accounts suspected of inciting hatred.
Protests escalated on Sunday night, with clashes between protesters and police in Istanbul and Ankara reported by Halk TV, leading to several arrests.
Multiple Turkish media outlets also reported the detention of at least three journalists on Monday morning.
Al Jazeera’s Aksel Zaimovic, reporting from Istanbul, mentioned the significant police presence deployed by the government across the city and nearby areas to maintain public order, noting police intervention with tear gas and water cannons against protesters.
Video journalist Tansel Can Emzikli recounted being thrown to the ground and kicked by six police officers.
The Erdogan government condemned the protesters for instigating unrest, resulting in the temporary suspension of Imamoglu from office by Turkiye’s interior ministry due to his detention.
