President Erdogan is calculating he can ride out the upheaval caused by the arrest of his top rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The rally, which begins at 0900 GMT in Maltepe on the Asian side of Istanbul, is the first such CHP-led gathering since Tuesday and comes on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration marking the end of Ramadan,

ISTANBUL (AP) — Police used pepper spray, plastic pellets and water cannon against protesters in Turkey’s capital early Thursday, the latest clash in the country’s biggest anti-government protests in over a decade.

More than 1,100 people, including some journalists, were detained in protests against Turkish President Erdogan after the arrest of his rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

Pehlivan was arrested on the basis of a warrant issued by the Anti-Money Laundering Department of the Prosecutor's Office

Since the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his wife Dilek has been center stage at nightly protests, fighting for her husband and the survival of the Turkish opposition.

Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, said the lack of international condemnation of Erdogan is helping ensure Turkey's shift toward authoritarianism

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.