Jailed Imamoglu elected Turkish opposition’s presidential candidate

Approximately 15 million individuals cast their votes for imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a presidential primary held by Turkiye’s main opposition party, CHP, according to municipal officials.

In a demonstration of increasing national backing, the party revealed late on Monday that approximately 1.7 million members, along with 13 million non-party supporters, were in favor of Imamoglu as its official candidate for the upcoming presidential election scheduled for 2028.

Large-scale protests have erupted following the detention of Imamoglu, who is broadly regarded as the leading rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday. On Sunday, he was officially imprisoned, intensifying the turmoil.

Erdogan’s opponents claim that it was the approaching primary that sparked the arrest. Voter turnout was so high that the voting was prolonged by three and a half hours. Erdogan’s administration has rejected the assertion that Imamoglu’s arrest was politically driven, asserting that Turkiye’s judiciary operates independently. Nevertheless, the CHP aimed to reinforce its allegations by confirming that Imamoglu was their official nominee.

An Istanbul court officially ordered Imamoglu to be jailed early Sunday as he awaits trial on corruption charges after his detention last week sparked widespread protests nationwide. The court dismissed a distinct anti-terrorism charge.

Imamoglu was moved to Marmara Prison on Sunday, located near Istanbul’s Silivri area. He has rejected all the accusations and has urged for additional nationwide protests. In a statement from jail, Imamoglu expressed that the “historic level of involvement” in the primary made him “extremely pleased.”

In a distinct post on X, Ozel expressed concerns about attempts to “silence” the opposition’s voice, as the government aimed to command the shutting down of numerous social media accounts on the X platform through the BTK information agency.