section_path: Protests/26 March
section_name: 26 March
paragraph_text: 26 March
  
  CHP leader Özgür Özel held a meeting with Ekrem İmamoğlu at Marmara Prison, located west of Istanbul. He described İmamoğlu and two other jailed politicians as “three lions inside, standing tall, with their heads held high … proud of themselves, their families, their colleagues, not afraid”. Afterwards Özel said he was planning to appoint an acting mayor in İmamoğlu’s place. Istanbul's municipal council later elected Nuri Aslan, a CHP member who won 177 votes in the 314-member council.
  
  President Erdoğan continued speaking against the protests and labelled them as "street terror”. He said: “Those who spread terror in the streets and want to set fire to this country have nowhere to go. The path they have taken is a dead end”. He also accused the opposition of harming the economy.