Istanbul, 23 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - A Turkish court has ordered Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to be held in pre-trial detention, the state-run Anadolu reports news agency reported on Sunday.

İmamoğlu was taken into custody on Wednesday, days before he was expected to be nominated as the presidential candidate for Turkey's largest opposition party, the CHP.

The move has sparked nightly nationwide demonstrations, with up to 300,000 rallying in Istanbul on Friday night alone according to CHP figures.

The popular opposition politician is facing accusations of terrorism and corruption in two separate proceedings.

The judge's order for pre-trial detention on Sunday came in connection with the corruption charge.

In the corruption investigation, İmamoğlu is accused of membership in a criminal organization, extortion, bribery, fraud and bid rigging, while he is also accused of supporting the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in the terrorism charge.

According to Anadolu, the background to the terror investigation is cooperation between the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM party in the local elections.

Public prosecutors argue that the cooperation helped to extend the influence of the banned PKK.

The mayor has vehemently denied the allegations and said on Saturday that they are based on "fabricated" reports.

İmamoğlu's victory in Istanbul in 2019 - and re-election in 2024 - were seen as bitter defeats for Erdoğan's AKP party, which had previously governed the city.

The city is Turkey's most populous metropolis and is of major importance to the country's politics and economics.

Control of the mayor's office is also highly symbolic, as the position was formerly held by Erdoğan from 1994.

The CHP plans to go ahead with plans to nominate İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate in a primary vote on Sunday.

In the nationwide ballot, the party's 1.7 million members are called upon to back İmamoğlu for the 2028 presidential election.

In addition to the 4,000 party ballot boxes set up in the country, as many symbolic "solidarity ballot boxes" are to be set up in which all citizens can cast a vote. İmamoğlu is the only CHP candidate.

Critics see his arrest as an attempt to eliminate a potential rival to Erdoğan - a charge strongly rejected by the long-standing leader's government.

MIA file photo