Protests continue in Türkiye; Erdogan insists on courts' independence

Istanbul's suspended mayor Ekrem Imamoglu spent his first night in jail, as 10 journalists were detained for covering the mass demonstrations that his detention sparked across Türkiye.

The protests began in Istanbul after Imamoglu's arrest on Wednesday and have since spread to more than 55 of Türkiye's 81 provinces leading to clashes with riot police.

The government denies that the investigations are politically motivated and says the courts are independent.

Imamoglu was officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition CHP party for the 2028 elections on Monday despite his arrest. He is widely seen as the only politician who could challenge leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box. 

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Türkiye would not tolerate any threats to public order and he vowed to stand firm against vandalism and street violence, amid growing protests against the detention of Istanbul's mayor.

"We will not allow public order to be damaged. We will not give in to vandalism or street terrorism," Erdogan said in a speech.

In just four days Imamoglu went from being the mayor of Istanbul - a post that launched Erdogan's political rise decades earlier - to being arrested, interrogated, jailed and stripped of the mayorship as a result of a graft and terror probe.

Earlier on Sunday, 15 million people had voted in a symbolic primary election organized by the main opposition CHP in support of Imamoglu as the party's presidential candidate for the 2028 election. 

On Monday, police detained 10 Turkish journalists "for covering the protests", the Media and Law Studies Association rights group said. 

As on previous nights, the gathering descended into fierce clashes between protesters and riot police as they tried to disperse the crowds in Istanbul and elsewhere. 

Istanbul governor Davut Gul accused demonstrators of "damaging mosques and cemeteries" in a post on X. "We ask our citizens to stay away from environments where masked people are present and not to participate in any unauthorized demonstrations. Any attempt to disrupt public order will not be tolerated," he wrote.

'I will win this war'

As Imamoglu traveled to Silivri prison on the western outskirts of Istanbul, he had denounced the judicial moves against him as a political "execution without trial".

In a later message from prison passed through lawyers, he said: "I have a strong arm that you cannot twist. I won't budge an inch. I will win this war."

As the court drama played out, millions voted in a CHP primary that the party opened up beyond its 1.7 million members to anyone who wanted to vote. 

"Out of a total of 15 million votes, 13,211,000 are solidarity votes," City Hall said, referring to the number of ballots cast by those who were not CHP members in voting stations in 81 cities.