ISTANBUL: A court formally arrested the mayor of Istanbul and key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan early on Sunday and ordered him jailed pending the outcome of a trial on corruption charges.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained following a raid to his residence earlier this week, sparking the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkiye in more than a decade. It also deepened concerns over democracy and rule of law in Turkiye.

His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2018.