Turkish authorities detained and deported BBC correspondent Mark Lowen​ and arrested other journalists amid the largest nationwide protests in a decade.

Turkish authorities released a lawyer for jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, after detaining him overnight, an attorney for the lawyer said on Friday.

Supporters of the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, said that corruption charges against him were a ploy to hobble the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Critics say the arrest of Istanbul's mayor is part of a mounting crackdown by Turkey's president to silence all dissent.

His arrest this week has sparked widespread protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.

Istanbul's opposition-run municipal council on Wednesday elected an interim mayor to run the city, after mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he and his supporters deny and call politicised.

The arrest and recent imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu sent shockwaves through Turkey, marking a decisive shift toward full autocracy. On March 19, police officers — acting on instructions from the ruling Justice and Development Party,

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Hundreds of thousands of protesters again congregated in Istanbul Saturday to how their support for the city’s imprisoned mayor and demand his release