Imamoglu widely seen as potential rival to Erdogan
\n ISTANBUL
\nTurkish police have detained more than 1,100 people, including journalists, since the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s main rival sparked the country\u2019s worst unrest in years, a minister said on Monday.
\nThe demonstrations began in Istanbul after Ekrem Imamoglu\u2019s arrest last week and have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey\u2019s 81 provinces, sparking clashes with riot police and drawing international condemnation.
\nThe popular 53-year-old has been widely seen as the only politician who could defeat Turkey\u2019s longtime leader Erdogan at the ballot box.
\nIn just four days he went from being the mayor of Istanbul \u2014 a post that launched Erdogan\u2019s political rise decades earlier \u2014 to being arrested, interrogated, jailed and stripped of the mayorship as a result of a graft and terror probe.
\nOn Sunday, he was overwhelmingly voted in as the main opposition CHP\u2019s candidate for the 2028 presidential run, with some 15 million people casting their ballots in a show of support for Imamoglu.
\nObservers said it was the looming primary that triggered the move against Imamoglu, the main political rival of Erdogan who has dominated Turkey\u2019s politics since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president.
\nHis jailing drew sharp condemnation from Germany, which called it \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d as Greece said moves to undermine civil liberties \u201ccannot be tolerated\u201d.
\nAnd the EU warned Ankara it needed to demonstrate \u201ca clear commitment to democratic norms\u201d. Overnight, France\u2019s foreign ministry said it was a \u201cserious attack on democracy\u201d.
\nOn Monday, students at the main universities in Istanbul and Ankara called for a boycott of lectures.
\nYoung protesters were also preparing to hold a rally at 1400 GMT by Besiktas port on the Bosphorus, ahead of the main nightly rally outside City Hall at 1730 GMT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imamoglu widely seen as potential rival to Erdogan ISTANBUL Turkish police have detained more than 1,100 people, including journalists, since the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s main rival sparked the country\u2019s worst unrest in years, a minister said on Monday. The demonstrations began in Istanbul after Ekrem Imamoglu\u2019s arrest last week and have since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-469209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n