Jailed Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu’s X account blocked in Turkey

Access to the X account of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, has been blocked in Turkey in response to a legal demand, a message on his social media account said on Thursday.

Police detained Imamoglu on March 19, triggering Turkey’s largest protests in a decade. He was jailed four days later pending trial on corruption charges that he denies. Opposition parties called his arrest politicised and anti-democratic.

Imamoglu’s X account has nearly 10 million followers.

Prominent Turkish lawyer Gonenc Gurkaynak said on X he was filing, at X’s request, an objection to the court decision to block access to the account.

Details of the decision were not immediately available.

Opinion polls show that popular support for Imamoglu has risen further above Erdogan since he was arrested, reinforcing the view that he would be Erdogan’s main rival in the next presidential election, which is not due until 2028.