Hundreds of thousands of protesters again congregated in Istanbul Saturday to how their support for the city's imprisoned mayor and demand his release.

Hundreds of thousands of Turks nationwide have heeded opposition calls to protest since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained last week and then jailed pending trial on graft charges.

A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than a decade.

The scent of tear gas lingered over Sarachane Square in Istanbul as thousands gathered over the weekend to protest against the arrest of the city’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, outside the municipal headquarters.

Elif Bayburt, who works for the Etkin News Agency, and Nisa Suda Demirel, from the Evrensel news website, were the latest to be arrested in early morning sweeps that have targeted political activists and trades’ unionists as well as journalists.

Political opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was in Turkish police custody Wednesday after he was arrested days before being chosen as the presidential candidate for the Republican People's Party.

The jailing of Istanbul’s mayor pending his trial on corruption charges has stoked worries that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is becoming more authoritarian in seeking to sideline a top rival.

Waving flags and chanting slogans, hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied in Istanbul Saturday calling for democracy to be defended after the arrest of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu whi

Hundreds of thousands of protesters again congregated in Istanbul Saturday to how their support for the city’s imprisoned mayor and demand his release