As Istanbul's jailed opposition mayor appeared in court on Friday in one of multiple cases against him, supporters gathered to protest what they believe is a politically motivated campaign to bar him from running for the presidency.

Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been held at Silivri prison since March 23, is the presidential candidate for Turkey's main opposition CHP party. He was seen as the candidate with the best chance of defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for almost a quarter of a century.

Imamoglu's imprisonment has been widely viewed as politically motivated, but Erdogan's government has insisted the judiciary is independent and free of political influence. If sentenced, Imamoglu could be banned from public office.

But despite the weeks of anti-government protests and a trial that many see as yet another step in Turkey's slide into authoritarianism, the European Union response has been seen as perfunctory.

Selim Kuneralp, a former Turkish ambassador to the EU, told DW that the EU has been "a bit hesitant" to respond to the mayor's arrest and the subsequent crackdown on protesters. "I think EU leaders were unwilling to appear to be too hostile to President Erdogan," he added.

Turkey is an EU aspirant and is expected to hold higher standards in rule of law, human rights and press freedom. But Turkey's growing strategic value as a NATO member, experts say, seems to have influenced Europe's response to the deterioration of these values.

The Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, has

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