Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, was arrested at dawn on Wednesday, just days before he was due to be named the candidate for the main opposition CHP party in the 2028 presidential election, AFP reported.
His party has denounced the detention as a "coup" and has vowed to keep up the demonstrations, which by Thursday night had spread to at least 32 of Turkey's 81 provinces, according to an AFP count.
Opposition leader Ozgur Ozel urged people across Turkey to hit the streets at 1730 GMT after the end of the daily Ramadan fast, despite warnings from the justice minister that such calls were "unlawful and unacceptable".
Thousands have defied a protest ban in Istanbul, gathering nightly outside City Hall in support of the mayor, with the authorities on Friday extending the ban to the capital Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
MNA
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