Istanbul’s Ekrem Imamoglu has been officially nominated as the opposition CHP party‘s presidential candidate for the 2028 elections, according to news agency AFP, quoting a party spokesperson on Monday.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition and the second-largest party in parliament, held a primary election on Sunday with Ekrem Imamoglu as the sole candidate.
Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s key political rival, has faced arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, and removal from his mayoral position within a week following a graft and terror probe, which the opposition has condemned as a political “coup.”
Imamoglu spent his first night in custody on Monday following his mayoral suspension, whilst authorities detained 10 journalists who covered the widespread demonstrations triggered by his arrest, AFP reported.
The protests, which began in Istanbul after his Wednesday arrest, expanded to over 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, resulting in confrontations with riot police in the most significant street unrest in over ten years
Imamoglu, regarded as the sole politician capable of defeating Turkey’s long-serving leader Erdogan in elections, faced arrest shortly before his anticipated opposition candidate nomination for the 2028 presidential elections.
His trajectory shifted dramatically in four days, from serving as Istanbul’s popular mayor – a position that previously launched Erdogan’s political career – to facing arrest, interrogation, imprisonment and removal from office.
Analysts suggest the impending primary prompted actions against Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival who has controlled Turkish politics since 2003, initially as prime minister before becoming president. France’s foreign ministry issued strong criticism late Sunday, characterising his imprisonment as “a serious attack on democracy”.
The symbolic primary election on Sunday attracted 15 million voters supporting Imamoglu’s CHP presidential candidacy for 2028. City Hall reported “13,211,000 solidarity votes” from non-CHP members across 81 cities, with voting extended due to high turnout.
The voter turnout led to an extension of polling by an additional three-and-a-half hours. In response to the large-scale protests, Turkish authorities attempted to block over 700 accounts on X, the platform stated on Sunday.
“We object to multiple court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts of news organisations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkiye,” its team said in a statement.
“We believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country,” it added.