CHP will be held accountable for violent protests: Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that protests over the jailing of Istanbul's mayor had become a “movement of violence” and that the main opposition party would be held accountable for injured police officers and damage to property.

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The detention last Wednesday of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, has triggered the biggest street protests in Turkey in more than a decade. On Sunday, a court jailed him, pending trial, on corruption charges that he denies.

Imamoglu's opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and its supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated and undemocratic, which Erdogan’s government denies.

Despite a ban imposed on street gatherings in many cities, the mostly peaceful anti-government demonstrations continued for a fifth consecutive night on Sunday, with hundreds of thousands taking part and the CHP’s leader, Ozgur Ozel, calling for the nationwide protests to continue.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said the CHP should stop “provoking” citizens.

“As a nation, we followed with surprise the events that emerged after the main opposition leader's call to take to the streets following an Istanbul-based corruption operation turned into a movement of violence,” the 71-year-old president said.