THE leader of Turkey’s main opposition party visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu today after six nights of massive protests calling for his release.

Mr Imamoglu, arrested on March 19 on corruption charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule. 

His arrest is widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked demonstrations, some turning violent, across the country.

The government insists that Turkey’s judiciary is independent.

After a two-hour meeting, Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Mr Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), told reporters that he was “ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through.”

He described Mr Imamoglu and two jailed CHP district mayors he also met as “three lions inside, standing tall, with their heads held high … proud of themselves, their families, their colleagues, not afraid.”

Mr Ozel announced the day before that Tuesday evening would be CHP’s final rally outside Istanbul’s City Hall, calling for people to join in. 

He also said that the party would appoint a member to the municipal council to act as mayor in Mr Imamoglu’s place, staving off the possibility of a state-appointed one.

Meanwhile, the Media and Law Studies Association said that eight journalists who were detained “for covering protests in Istanbul,” banned by authorities, had been brought to the city’s Caglayan Courthouse. 

Media workers’ unions have condemned the arrests as an “attack on press freedoms and the people’s right to learn the truth.”

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said today that police had detained 43 “provocateurs” over what he said were “vile insults” hurled at President Erdogan and his family at protests. 

Some 1,133 protesters were detained between Wednesday and Sunday, he said earlier.

Mayor Imamoglu has been jailed on suspicion of running a criminal organisation, accepting bribes, extortion, illegally recording personal data and bid-rigging — accusations he denies.