Summary
- Turkey rocked by street protests over jailing of Istanbul mayor
- Mayor Imamoglu is President Erdogan’s main political rival
- Erdogan blames opposition CHP party for unrest, damage
- Interior minister says 123 police officers hurt in protests
- Main opposition leader calls for continued demonstrations
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.