Turkey jails Istanbul mayor before trial, stoking opposition anger

FILE PHOTO: Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), addresses his supporters from the top of a bus after giving testimony to judicial authorities at the Justice Palace, known as Caglayan Courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A Turkish court on Sunday jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, pending trial on corruption charges in a move that inflamed the country's biggest protests in more than a decade.

The decision to send Imamoglu to jail comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and hundreds of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic.