Turkey's opposition party has urged supporters to take to the streets for peaceful demonstrations against the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor and top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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.

Turkey detained Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group in what the main opposition party called "a coup against our next president".