Popular support for Ekrem Imamoglu, the Istanbul mayor whose arrest sparked Turkey's largest protests in a decade, has risen further above President Tayyip Erdogan since he was detained and jailed in March, opinion polls show.
Two surveys released in recent days suggest that Imamoglu's detention on March 19 has also reinforced views that he is Erdogan's main rival in any future presidential vote, even as he sits behind bars.
The mayor was jailed on March 23 pending a hearing on corruption charges that he denies — a move that the opposition and some European leaders called politicized and anti-democratic, and which accelerated nationwide rallies.
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