Close to 15 million people voted for jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a presidential primary organised by Turkiye’s main opposition CHP.
In a sign of growing national support, the party announced late on Monday that an estimated 1.7 million members were joined by 13 million non-party members in supporting Imamoglu to become its official candidate for the next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2028, Al Jazeera reported.
Mass protests have broken out since Imamoglu, widely seen as the top challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday. On Sunday, he was formally jailed, exacerbating the unrest.
Erdogan’s critics insist that it was the looming primary that triggered the arrest. People turned out in such large numbers that voting was extended by three and a half hours.
Erdogan’s government has denied that the arrest of Imamoglu was politically motivated, insisting that Turkiye’s courts are independent.
Mehmet Celik from the Daily Sabah pro-government daily told Al Jazeera that the CHP and government critics must come up with answers to the “serious allegations” against Imamoglu.
However, the CHP sought to double down on the claims as it established that Imamoglu was its official candidate.
“The number of votes for Ekrem Imamoglu from our members and the solidarity ballot box is over 14 million 850 thousand,” wrote chairman Ozgur Ozel on X.
bd-pratidin/GR
