Turkey's opposition elects interim Istanbul mayor

ANKARA - Istanbul's opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday elected an interim mayor to run the city, broadcaster NTV said, after mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicised.

The detention last week of Imamoglu, the biggest political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, triggered the largest anti-government demonstrations in Turkey in over a decade and led to mass arrests, as hundreds of thousands heeded opposition calls and took to the streets in mostly peaceful protests.

Imamoglu's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Western leaders, other opposition parties and rights groups have said the jailing of the mayor on Sunday was an anti-democratic move aimed at eliminating an electoral threat to Erdogan.

The government denies influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over two decades, has dismissed the nationwide protests as a "show", warned of legal consequences, and called on the CHP to stop "provoking" Turks.

Istanbul's 314-member council, where the CHP holds a majority, elected the party's Nuri Aslan to run the city with 177 votes, according to NTV. The interim mayor will run the city for the remainder of Imamoglu's term, as he awaits trial.

The election of an interim mayor prevents the government from appointing a trustee to run the municipality, as it has done in several other cities, particularly in the mainly Kurdish southeast, amid a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition.

Since Imamoglu's detention, Turkish financial assets have plunged, prompting the central bank to use reserves to support the lira. The government has said the impact of the fluctuations would be limited and temporary.

The CHP has said it would continue to rally and pressure the government. It has called for a boycott of several media outlets, brands and stores it says are pro-Erdogan.

The opposition party also plans to convene an extraordinary congress on April 6 to prevent authorities from appointing a trustee to run the party after prosecutors launched a probe into alleged irregularities around its last congress in 2023.