Turkey's opposition elects interim Istanbul mayor after Imamoglu's jailing

ANKARA (Reuters) - Istanbul's opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday elected an interim mayor to run the city, after mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicised.

The detention last week of Imamoglu, the biggest political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, triggered the largest anti-government demonstrations in Turkey in over a decade and led to mass arrests, as hundreds of thousands heeded opposition calls and took to the streets in mostly peaceful protests.

His jailing on Sunday has been criticised by Imamoglu's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Western leaders, other opposition parties and rights groups as an anti-democratic move aimed at eliminating an electoral threat to Erdogan.

The government denies influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over two decades, has dismissed the nationwide protests as a "show", warned of legal consequences, and called on the CHP to stop "provoking" Turks.

Istanbul's 314-member council, where the CHP holds a majority, elected the party's Nuri Aslan to run the city with 177 votes, according to NTV. The interim mayor will run the city for the remainder of Imamoglu's term, as he awaits trial.

The election of an interim mayor prevents the government from appointing a trustee to run the municipality, as it has done in several other cities, particularly in the mainly Kurdish southeast, amid a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition.

Speaking at the Istanbul Municipality building in Sarachane, CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel, who visited Imamoglu in jail a day ago, said the interim mayor had blocked Erdogan's desire to appoint a trustee at the municipality.

"The struggle will expand to all of Turkey from now on, but one leg will always be in Istanbul and one hand will always be on Sarachane," Ozel said, adding the public's resistance had thwarted what the opposition calls a "coup attempt" against it.

Interim Mayor Aslan, speaking alongside Ozel, said the position was entrusted to him temporarily.

"Our mayor, elected with the votes of Istanbul, will come back as soon as possible. We, along with our chairman, will take care of what he entrusted us with and give it back to him," he said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Since Imamoglu's detention, Turkish financial assets have plunged, prompting the central bank to use reserves to support the lira. The government has said the impact of the fluctuations would be limited and temporary.

Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan said on Wednesday the bank had taken proactive steps to ensure markets functioned effectively and that the measures were supportive of its tight monetary policy stance. He said the turmoil did not disrupt the core dynamics of the economy.

Karahan said the bank's FX reserves were in a "very strong" position, despite an intervention to prop up the lira last week.

"We have taken every necessary measure proactively, staying within the rules of the market, and we will continue to do so. The central bank has a very wide and strong set of instruments," he said.

The CHP has said it would continue to rally and pressure the government. On Sunday, when Imamoglu's arrest was announced, the party named Imamoglu as its presidential candidate for the next elections. It has called for a boycott of several media outlets, brands and stores it says are pro-Erdogan.

The opposition party also plans to convene an extraordinary congress on April 6 to prevent authorities from appointing a trustee to run the party after prosecutors launched a probe into alleged irregularities around its last congress in 2023.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Ros Russell, William Maclean)