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.

A university has invalidated Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's diploma in a move widely perceived as politically motivated.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a popular figure, had boasted jokingly that he was the only person to have beaten Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party in three local elections

The embattled mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been chosen as the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled to take place in 2028.

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.

The opposition leader’s arrest has ignited Turkey’s largest protests in over a decade

The demonstrations began last week following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the Turkish presidential hopeful detained on charges ... Imamoglu says he "embraced social democratic values during his time in university". A football enthusiast, like Erdogan himself, Imamoglu was also an amateur player in his youth ...