Turkish court has ordered the detention of 18 Istanbul municipal officials awaiting trial on corruption charges.

Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Turkey's largest city and a key rival of President Recep Erdogan, was jailed in March and is awaiting trial on corruption charges. He is also accused of supporting a terrorist group.

Imamoglu has denied all charges, and his arrest sparked the biggest protests in Turkey in a decade, riots, and accusations of a politicized judicial system.

The Turkish government denies all these allegations and insists that the judicial system is independent.

The NTV television network reported that 34 of the 52 people arrested over the weekend had been released on bail.

Among those arrested are the secretary general of the municipality, the head of Imamoglu's office, the president and deputy chairman of the Istanbul Water Infrastructure Administration, and the head of that department. | BGNES