Erdogan slams protests over jailing of Istanbul mayor as 'movement of violence'

FILE PHOTO: People holding Turkish flags take part in a protest on the day Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed as part of a corruption investigation, in Ankara, Turkey, March 23, 2025. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that protests over the jailing of Istanbul's mayor had become a "movement of violence" and that the main opposition party would be held accountable for injured police officers and damage to property.

The detention last Wednesday of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's main political rival, has triggered the biggest street protests in Turkey in more than a decade. On Sunday, a court jailed him, pending trial, on corruption charges that he denies.