March 24 (Reuters) - Turkish stocks rose 3.1% on Monday

to claw back some of the previous week's hefty losses, with the

capital markets board banning short selling and tensions in the

country rising after a court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem

Imamoglu pending a trial.

The Borsa Istanbul benchmark index ended last week

down 16.6%, its worst drop since the global financial crisis in

October 2008. The banking sub-index was 3.23% higher by

0856 GMT after falling more than 26% last week.

A Turkish court on Sunday jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem

Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival,

pending trial on corruption charges in a move that sparked the

country's biggest protests in more than a decade.

Imamoglu's detention last Wednesday roiled markets, sending

the lira, stocks and bonds sharply lower, and prompted an outcry

from the main opposition party, European leaders and hundreds of

thousands of protesters, who criticise the actions against him

as politicised and undemocratic.

Analysts expect a prolonged period of political turmoil and

uncertainty.

"The protests mark the most significant and widespread

public reaction in over a decade, making the trajectory of

events difficult to predict," said Wolfango Piccoli at Teneo.

"Once again, President Erdogan's political agenda has

inflicted serious damage on Turkey's economic outlook."

The country's capital markets board on Sunday banned short

selling on the Istanbul bourse and eased share buyback

limitations and equity ratio requirements until April 25.

The lira traded at 37.9550 against the U.S.

dollar, little changed from Friday's close of 37.9500 after

falling 3.5% last week. In a meeting with bank executives on

Sunday, the central bank said it would use all instruments

effectively and decisively to maintain stability.

Turkey's international sovereign bonds also clawed back some

of their losses, with the 2045 maturity up 0.7

cents to be bid at 83.7 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb data

showed, after falling more than 3 cents last week.