Hundreds of thousands of Turks have gathered at a rally in Istanbul in support of the city's arrested mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. His detention sparked Turkey's biggest street unrest in a decade, Agence France-Presse reported.
Huge masses of people gathered in Maltepe, located in the Asian part of Turkey's largest city.
Ozgur Özel, leader of the main opposition People's Republican Party, which organised the rally, said the protest had gathered 2.2 million people.
"I am not afraid. I have only one life, I am ready to sacrifice it for this country," said an 82-year-old woman wearing a headscarf bearing a picture of Imamoglu and the Turkish flag.
"He is an honest man, he is the one who will save the Turkish republic," she said of the mayor, who was arrested and then jailed in a corruption investigation on charges believed to be false.
The mass protests that began with Imamoglu's detention on March 19 sparked a government crackdown. | BGNES
