Could Istanbul's arrested mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu become Turkey's next president?

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained in the early hours of Wednesday during a raid on his home as part of investigations into alleged corruption and links to a terrorist group.

By Sunday, he had been formally arrested and sent to Marmara Prison after being arrested at the prosecutor's request.

The request for arrest as part of the terrorism investigation was rejected, as an arrest warrant had already been issued on corruption charges, İmamoğlu's lawyer Fikret İlkiz told Euronews Turkish.

Meanwhile, on the morning of İmamoğlu's arrest, his Republican People's Party (CHP) held a primary election to determine its candidate for the 2028 presidential elections.

Imamoğlu, who entered the primary as the only candidate, was chosen as the centre-left CHP's presidential candidate.

In a decision taken in February, only CHP members could vote in the party's primary election, but after İmamoğlu was first detained on Wednesday, the party announced that all citizens could participate in the vote "for solidarity purposes."

As a result of this vote, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel announced that 1.6 million party members went to the polls and İmamoğlu received a total of around 15 million votes together with the "solidarity" ballots cast.

Despite his arrest, there is currently no obstacle for İmamoğlu to become a presidential candidate and be elected.

According to the constitution, in order to become a presidential candidate and be elected, one must be a university graduate, not have been convicted of any offence and be over 40 years of age.

Imamoğlu's arrest does not constitute an obstacle to his candidacy and election as president, because according to the law there has been no finalised judicial ruling.

İlkiz told Euronews that Imamoğlu and his