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'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.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned growing protests in Turkey days after the arrest of a key opposition figure. In a speech on Friday, Erdogan said his government would not "surrender" to "vandalism" or "street terror" ahead of more planned protests. "We will not accept the disruption of public order."