ANKARA (Reuters) – Istanbul’s opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday elected an interim mayor to run the city, broadcaster NTV said, after Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicized.
The detention last week of Imamoglu, the biggest political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, triggered the largest anti-government demonstrations in over a decade and led to mass arrests, as hundreds of thousands took to the streets across the country in mostly peaceful protests.
The municipality’s 314-member council, where the main opposition party holds majority, elected Nuri Aslan to run Istanbul with 177 votes, according to NTV. The interim mayor will run the city for the remainder of Imamoglu’s term, as he awaits trial.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
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