Turkey’s Erdogan Blames Opposition for Violent Protests

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed mass protests over the jailing of his chief political rival as a violent movement that the opposition would be held accountable for, but demonstrators turned out in force Monday anyway.

Throngs of people have crowded the streets of Istanbul and other major cities since Wednesday, when

Turkish authorities jailed Ekrem Imamoglu days before he was expected to formally accept his party’s nomination to run for president. Imamoglu is Istanbul’s mayor and widely seen as the strongest opposition challenger, having won over a city that previously had been controlled by Erdogan’s party.