A Turkish prosecutor demanded on Tuesday a prison sentence of more than 2,000 years for Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed opposition mayor of Istanbul, for allegedly leading a vast corruption network that cost the state billions of lira.

Imamoglu, who is President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, has previously denied all the accusations against him, saying they are politically motivated, and his party on Tuesday rejected the new indictment as "nonsense".

In a separate move that also deepened an unprecedented year-long legal crackdown on Erdogan's critics, the Istanbul prosecutor asked a higher court to consider shutting down Imamoglu's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akin Gurlek announced the indictment at a press conference, saying it names 40

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