Turkey detains Istanbul mayor

ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained Istanbul’s powerful mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, Wednesday over two investigations into graft and “supporting terror”, prompting outrage from the main opposition CHP which slammed it as a politically-motivated “coup”.

Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival and his detention came just days before the CHP was expected to name him their candidate for the 2028 presidential race.

Widely seen as the strongest challenger to Erdogan — whose route to the presidency also included four years as Istanbul mayor — Imamoglu has been targeted by a growing number of what critics say are spurious legal investigations.