Sawt Falasteen - Turkey opposition to fight Erdogan 'until the end': leader tells AFP

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel demanded snap polls that would show the "biggest no confidence vote in history" against Erdogan following the arrest last month of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who was seen as the president's chief challenger.

"Erdogan carried out a coup against his own rival. He carried out a coup against the next president of Turkey, our presidential candidate. That is why our resistance and struggle against this will continue until the end," Ozel told AFP in Istanbul.

Imamoglu's arrest sparked the biggest opposition protests to grip Turkey since 2013 although the rallies have dipped in intensity over the past 10 days amid holidays marking the end of Ramadan.

To maintain momentum, the CHP is now calling for rallies in an Istanbul district every Wednesday.

"Then, every weekend, we will hold at least one rally in a city in Anatolia. We start the first one from Samsun," the Black Sea city where Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk launched the war of independence in 1919, Ozel said.

- 'Vote of no confidence'-

A party petition for the release of Imamoglu has gathered 7.2 million signatures, he said, adding that the aim is to get at least half of Turkey's 61.4 million voters to back the campaign.

"We will give Erdogan the biggest vote of no confidence in history," the party leader said. Some "7.2 million people have signed so far this petition to force him (Erdogan) to hold early elections".

Imamoglu is the CHP candidate for the 2028 presidential election with polls indicating he could end Erdogan's almost quarter century grip on power -- if he was allowed to stand.

Ozel said the party would do everything in its power to secure Imamoglu's candidacy "because the people want him and he is our candidate who is strong enough to defeat Erdogan."

But if legal battles prevented Imamoglu from running, Ozel said, he would make sure as party leader to nominate the right candidate while ruling out any personal ambition.

"I aspire to show the leadership to determine the right candidate rather than a demand for myself."

-'Democracy vs autocracy'-

The next election will be a vote on "democracy versus autocracy," he said.

"If we win, Turkey will become a democracy where the rule of law, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, separation of powers, and a strong parliament prevail."

Ozel accused US President Donald Trump of "acting like Erdogan's boss" by turning a blind eye to the behaviour of the Turkish leader.

"Erdogan is getting the support of the United States because both of them hate democracy ... and they have established a relationship of interest with each other. Unfortunately, Trump is also acting like Erdogan's boss," he said.

"The European Union is better in this sense, but it is still expected to react much more strongly against such a great injustice," Ozel said.

Nearly 2,000 people, including students, have been arrested in a crackdown on the protests.

"This shows that those who cannot organise hope organise fear," Ozel said of the arrests.

"We are organising the courage against it".

An Istanbul court last month ordered the release of seven journalists including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul who were jailed on suspicion of "taking part in illegal rallies".

But prosecutors indicted the journalists saying there was no strong evidence they were performing journalistic activity. Their trial has been set for April 18.

Ozel condemned the journalists' arrests as a "complete eclipse of reason" and accused the government of seeking to "intimidate journalists so that they will not report".

H.Nasr--SF-PST