Turkey's CHP party urges peaceful protests after Istanbul mayor's arrest despite ban

The leader of Turkey's main opposition has renewed a call for supporters to take to the streets for peaceful demonstrations against the arrest of Istanbul's mayor and top political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested in a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday over alleged corruption and terror links, escalating a crackdown on opposition figures and dissenting voices.

Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.

Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdoğan from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.

Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey's courts operate independently.

The Cumhuriyet daily newspaper and other media reported that police began questioning İmamoğlu on Friday afternoon. He can be detained without charges for up to four days.

Erdoğan said that the government wouldn't tolerate street protests and accused the opposition party of being associated with corruption, marginal groups and terrorist organizations.

"We see that an anti-corruption operation in Istanbul is being used as an excuse to stir unrest in our streets. I want it to be known that we will not allow a handful of opportunists to bring unrest to Turkey just to protect their plundering schemes," Erdoğan said.

"Pointing to the streets instead of courtrooms to defend theft, plunder, lawlessness and fraud is a grave irresponsibility."

Since İmamoğlu's arrest, thousands of people have gathered at Istanbul's city hall for nighttime rallies and clashes have erupted between demonstrators and police in