Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service coming live from London. This is Owen Bennett Jones.

Well, as you've probably heard by now, the mayor of Istanbul, Ekram Imammolu, has not only been arrested,

but also formally charged with corruption, something that's led to protest throughout Turkey.

Mr. Oamamalu has been chosen as the opposition candidate to take on President Erdogan in 2028,

and I think it's probably fair to conclude that the thousands of people on the streets now defending him

think the charge is politically motivated.

President Erdogan, meanwhile, has said the demonstrations

in support of the jail mayor have turned into what he called a movement of violence.

He said Turkey's main opposition party was responsible for damaging property, harming police officers

and would be held to account. He was saying all this in a TV statement after a cabinet meeting.

Together with our nation, we are following the events that began after a street call

by the main opposition leader following a corruption operation centered in Istanbul,

which quickly turned into a movement of violence.

123 of our security personnel were injured in five days due to attacks by marginal organizations

and city bandits.

Well, the BBC's Mark Lowen is in Istanbul. What's happening? I asked him a couple of

hours ago. And how does it compare to previous evenings? It looks once again very big, Owen. I've come

slightly further away from the protests in order to speak to you because the authorities throttle the

internet around the protest site itself. But I can see the crowds from just up the road.

And it is a very big crowd once again. They're holding Turkish flags and banners of the opposition CHP party

and of Ecclemy Mamor, the now jailed mayor of Istanbul, who they feel was detained on completely political purposes, the fact that he is the

most significant political threats to President Erdogan in his 22-year grip on this country.

...