PHOTO ⟩ In Istanbul, thousands of protesters line up in solidarity with the city’s condemned mayor

An Istanbul court on Wednesday barred the city’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, considered a potential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from political activity and sentenced him to two years and seven months in prison for insulting Turkish election officials.

Photo: In Istanbul, thousands of protesters line up in solidarity with the condemned mayor

Imamoglu will continue to serve as mayor of Istanbul as his appeal is heard in a case related to the city’s controversial mayoral election, in which he was initially declared the winner but later overturned.

The verdict in this case could destroy Imamoglu’s chances of running for presidential elections in June.

Turkey’s divided opposition is struggling to agree on a common candidate to challenge Erdogan, who has been in power for two decades.

Polls show that the 52-year-old mayor of Istanbul, who represents the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), currently has the best chance of defeating Erdogan among potential rivals.

However, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is trailing in the polls, still insists on his candidacy.

Meanwhile, the popularity of the possible candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Party, Merala Akšener, has also started to grow.

However, at Thursday’s rally, Imamoglu stood alongside the leaders of six other opposition parties.

“I am absolutely not afraid of their illegal judgment,” the mayor of Istanbul said, addressing the protesters. “I have no judges to defend me, but 16 million people of Istanbul and our nation stand behind me.”

Although polls show Erdogan’s ratings have started to recover after a decline during last year’s economic crisis, even some of his supporters admit the court has made a “political” decision after Wednesday’s verdict.