Thousands of Turkish protesters defy ban over Istanbul mayor’s detention

Thousands of Turks ramped up protests on Thursday despite a ban on street gatherings over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as the opposition sought to pin the blame on President Tayyip Erdogan.

Protestors gathered at a municipal headquarters and police station in Istanbul, and at universities and public squares across the country, leading to some scuffles with police officers who had erected barricades and closed off streets.

Imamoglu, 54, Erdogan’s main political rival, was taken in on Wednesday facing charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group, a move that the opposition condemned as a “coup attempt” and that sparked an initial round of…