Jailed Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu's X account blocked in Turkey

Access to the X account of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, has been blocked in Turkey in response to a legal demand, a message on his social media account said on Thursday.

Police detained Imamoglu on March 19, triggering Turkey's largest protests in a decade. He was jailed four days later pending trial on corruption charges that he denies. Opposition parties called his arrest politicised and anti-democratic.

Imamoglu's X account has nearly 10 million followers. On Thursday the message "Account withheld" appeared, explaining that it was blocked in Turkey in response to a legal demand.

Prominent Turkish lawyer Gonenc Gurkaynak said on X he was filing, at X's request, an objection to the court decision to block access to the account.

Istanbul prosecutors opened an investigation into an April 24 post on Imamoglu's account on the grounds that it may constitute incitement to commit a crime, the presidential communication's directorate said in a statement on X.

In a post on that date, Imamoglu condemned his arrest and a wider judicial crackdown on the opposition, calling on the nation to complain and "raise your voice".

The prosecutors requested that access to Imamoglu's X account be blocked in Turkey until his pre-trial detention ends and an Istanbul court subsequently decided to enforce the block, the presidential office statement said.

Opinion polls show that popular support for Imamoglu has risen further above Erdogan since he was arrested, reinforcing the view that he would be Erdogan's main rival in the next presidential election, which is not due until 2028.