Turkish authorities have ordered the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with around 100 other people, prosecutors said on Wednesday, according to state-run news agency Anadolu Agency. The order comes just days before the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is scheduled to hold a primary election, where Imamoglu was expected to be chosen as its presidential candidate. “I am saddened to say, a handful of people who are trying to steal the will of the people, have sent the dear police, the security forces implicating them in this wrongful doing,” Imamoglu said in a video posted to X on Wednesday. “Hundreds of police officers have been sent to the door my house — the house of the 16 million people of Istanbul.” The move to detain the mayor of Turkey’s largest city, a key political battleground, comes after Istanbul University…
