More than 340 held after mass protests in Turkey
By AFP
March 22, 2025
The demonstrations have turned into Turkey's biggest street protests in more than a decade - Copyright POOL/AFP Ng Han Guan
More than 340 people were arrested following Turkey’s biggest street protests in over a decade sparked by the detention of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, a minister said Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets across the country late Friday, sparking clashes with riot police in Turkey’s three largest cities: Istanbul, the capital Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said “343 suspects were caught in the protests that took place in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne,” warning that those who sought to sow “chaos and provocation.. will definitely not be tolerated!”
It was the third straight night that protesters rallied in support of Imamoglu — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rival, whose arrest Wednesday triggered a massive show of defiance that spread from Istanbul to more than 50 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
During the evening, fierce clashes broke out between protesters and riot police, who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse them in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
After spending his third night in custody, Imamoglu — who was arrested just days before the CHP was to name him their candidate for the 2028 presidential race — began speaking to police on Saturday morning in connection with the “terror” probe, party sources told AFP.
He was then expected to appear before prosecutors at Caglayan courthouse at 1800 GMT to be questioned in both the graft and the terror probes, they said.
Already named in a growing list of legal probes, Imamoglu — who was resoundingly re-elected last year — has been accused alongside six others of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation” — namely the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.
He is also under investigation for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organisation” along with 99 other suspects.
– Quizzed for six hours –
He was questioned by police for six hours Friday about the graft allegations, the party said.
“Mr Imamoglu denies all the charges against him,” one of his lawyers, Mehmet Pehlivan said.
“The detention was aimed at undermining Mr Imamoglu’s reputation in the eyes of society,” he wrote on X early on Saturday, saying both probes were “based on untrue allegations” and “a violation of the right to a fair trial”.
Demonstrators across the country were due to rally again on Saturday night.
In a message on X sent via his lawyers, Imamoglu said he was “honoured and proud” of the demonstrators who hit the streets in more than 50 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, saying they were “protecting our republic, our democracy, the future of a just Turkey, and the will of our nation”.
Addressing the crowds outside City Hall in Istanbul on Friday night, Ozgur Ozel, who heads the main opposition CHP, said 300,000 people had joined the demonstration in defiance of a protest ban and a sharp warning from Erdogan that Turkey would not tolerate “street terror”.
Speaking Friday, Erdogan had fired a warning shot across Ozel’s bows, accusing him of “grave irresponsibility” in remarks echoed by ministers and other officials, raising the prospect that Ozel too could face legal sanction.
“Those who provoke our citizens and cause them to clash with our security forces are committing a clear crime.. There is no way this dirty scheme can be allowed!” wrote Istanbul governor Davut Gul on X on Saturday, warning those responsible would be tried in court.
The move against Imamoglu has hurt the Turkish lira and financial markets, with the stock exchange’s BIST 100 index closing down nearly eight percent on Friday.
March 22, 2025
The demonstrations have turned into Turkey's biggest street protests in more than a decade - Copyright POOL/AFP Ng Han Guan
More than 340 people were arrested following Turkey’s biggest street protests in over a decade sparked by the detention of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, a minister said Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets across the country late Friday, sparking clashes with riot police in Turkey’s three largest cities: Istanbul, the capital Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said “343 suspects were caught in the protests that took place in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne,” warning that those who sought to sow “chaos and provocation.. will definitely not be tolerated!”
It was the third straight night that protesters rallied in support of Imamoglu — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rival, whose arrest Wednesday triggered a massive show of defiance that spread from Istanbul to more than 50 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
During the evening, fierce clashes broke out between protesters and riot police, who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse them in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
After spending his third night in custody, Imamoglu — who was arrested just days before the CHP was to name him their candidate for the 2028 presidential race — began speaking to police on Saturday morning in connection with the “terror” probe, party sources told AFP.
He was then expected to appear before prosecutors at Caglayan courthouse at 1800 GMT to be questioned in both the graft and the terror probes, they said.
Already named in a growing list of legal probes, Imamoglu — who was resoundingly re-elected last year — has been accused alongside six others of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation” — namely the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.
He is also under investigation for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organisation” along with 99 other suspects.
– Quizzed for six hours –
He was questioned by police for six hours Friday about the graft allegations, the party said.
“Mr Imamoglu denies all the charges against him,” one of his lawyers, Mehmet Pehlivan said.
“The detention was aimed at undermining Mr Imamoglu’s reputation in the eyes of society,” he wrote on X early on Saturday, saying both probes were “based on untrue allegations” and “a violation of the right to a fair trial”.
Demonstrators across the country were due to rally again on Saturday night.
In a message on X sent via his lawyers, Imamoglu said he was “honoured and proud” of the demonstrators who hit the streets in more than 50 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, saying they were “protecting our republic, our democracy, the future of a just Turkey, and the will of our nation”.
Addressing the crowds outside City Hall in Istanbul on Friday night, Ozgur Ozel, who heads the main opposition CHP, said 300,000 people had joined the demonstration in defiance of a protest ban and a sharp warning from Erdogan that Turkey would not tolerate “street terror”.
Speaking Friday, Erdogan had fired a warning shot across Ozel’s bows, accusing him of “grave irresponsibility” in remarks echoed by ministers and other officials, raising the prospect that Ozel too could face legal sanction.
“Those who provoke our citizens and cause them to clash with our security forces are committing a clear crime.. There is no way this dirty scheme can be allowed!” wrote Istanbul governor Davut Gul on X on Saturday, warning those responsible would be tried in court.
The move against Imamoglu has hurt the Turkish lira and financial markets, with the stock exchange’s BIST 100 index closing down nearly eight percent on Friday.
Turkey won’t surrender to ‘street terror’, Erdogan warns protesters
By A FP
March 21, 2025
Protests over the Istanbul mayor's arrest have spread to Ankara and other provinces - Copyright AFP Roslan RAHMAN
Hazel WARD
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday the Turkish authorities would not be cowed by “street terror” after days of unrest over the arrest of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.
“Turkey will not surrender to street terror,” Erdogan said as the leader of the main opposition CHP called for nationwide protests later on Friday over a move it has denounced as a “coup”.
“Let me say it loud and clear: the street protests that the CHP leader has called for are a dead end,” Erdogan warned.
The 53-year-old mayor — Erdogan’s main political rival — was arrested on Wednesday, just days before he was to be named the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race.
The move sparked two days of protests that began in Istanbul and quickly spread to at least 32 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to an AFP count.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel has called a third nightly protest outside Istanbul City Hall at 1730 GMT, urging demonstrators to hit the streets across Turkey at the same time, despite the justice minister warning such calls were “unlawful and unacceptable”.
On Friday, Istanbul’s governor closed off Galata Bridge and Ataturk Bridge, which cross the Golden Horn estuary and are the main access routes to the historic peninsula where City Hall is located.
Thousands have defied a protest ban in Istanbul, gathering nightly outside City Hall. On Friday, the authorities extended the ban to the capital Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
Police initially showed restraint but on Thursday fired rubber bullets and teargas as they scuffled with students in Istanbul and Ankara, AFP correspondents said.
So far, at least 88 protesters have been arrested, Turkish media said, with Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya saying 16 police officers had been hurt.
Police had also detained another 54 people for online posts deemed as “incitement to hatred”, he said.
– ‘Opposition drama’ –
Late Thursday, Erdogan shrugged off the unrest — Turkey’s worst street protests in years — as little more than “the opposition’s dramas”.
But he upped the ante with his speech on Friday, accusing the opposition leader of “grave irresponsibility”.
Ozel had on Thursday vowed that the protests would continue.
“From now on, no one should expect CHP to do politics in halls or buildings, we’ll be on the streets and in the squares,” he told the crowd at City Hall.
The pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party also said it would join Friday’s Istanbul rally.
Officials said Imamoglu and six others were under investigation for “aiding a terrorist organisation” — namely the banned Kurdish PKK militant group. He is also under scrutiny in a graft probe involving about 100 other suspects.
Investigators reportedly began questioning Imamoglu on Friday afternoon, local media reported, saying all of the suspects were due in court on Sunday morning.
– Primary –
Despite Imamoglu’s detention, the CHP vowed it would press ahead with its primary on Sunday at which it would formally nominate him as its candidate for the 2028 race.
The party said it would open the process to anyone who wanted to vote, not just party members, saying: “Come to the ballot box and say ‘no’ to the coup attempt!”
Observers said the government could seek to block the primary to prevent a further show of support for Imamgolu.
“If a large number of people show up and vote for Imamoglu, it will further legitimise him domestically,” Gonul Tol, head of the Turkish studies programme at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told AFP.
“It could really move things in a direction that Erdogan doesn’t want.”
Restrictions on social media and internet access that had been in place since Imamoglu’s arrest were lifted by Friday morning, said internet access monitor EngelliWeb.
The move against Imamoglu has dealt a heavy blow to the Turkish lira, and on Friday the BIST 100 stock exchange was trading lower, shedding 6.63 percent shortly after 1200 GMT.
By A FP
March 21, 2025
Protests over the Istanbul mayor's arrest have spread to Ankara and other provinces - Copyright AFP Roslan RAHMAN
Hazel WARD
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday the Turkish authorities would not be cowed by “street terror” after days of unrest over the arrest of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.
“Turkey will not surrender to street terror,” Erdogan said as the leader of the main opposition CHP called for nationwide protests later on Friday over a move it has denounced as a “coup”.
“Let me say it loud and clear: the street protests that the CHP leader has called for are a dead end,” Erdogan warned.
The 53-year-old mayor — Erdogan’s main political rival — was arrested on Wednesday, just days before he was to be named the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race.
The move sparked two days of protests that began in Istanbul and quickly spread to at least 32 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to an AFP count.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel has called a third nightly protest outside Istanbul City Hall at 1730 GMT, urging demonstrators to hit the streets across Turkey at the same time, despite the justice minister warning such calls were “unlawful and unacceptable”.
On Friday, Istanbul’s governor closed off Galata Bridge and Ataturk Bridge, which cross the Golden Horn estuary and are the main access routes to the historic peninsula where City Hall is located.
Thousands have defied a protest ban in Istanbul, gathering nightly outside City Hall. On Friday, the authorities extended the ban to the capital Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
Police initially showed restraint but on Thursday fired rubber bullets and teargas as they scuffled with students in Istanbul and Ankara, AFP correspondents said.
So far, at least 88 protesters have been arrested, Turkish media said, with Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya saying 16 police officers had been hurt.
Police had also detained another 54 people for online posts deemed as “incitement to hatred”, he said.
– ‘Opposition drama’ –
Late Thursday, Erdogan shrugged off the unrest — Turkey’s worst street protests in years — as little more than “the opposition’s dramas”.
But he upped the ante with his speech on Friday, accusing the opposition leader of “grave irresponsibility”.
Ozel had on Thursday vowed that the protests would continue.
“From now on, no one should expect CHP to do politics in halls or buildings, we’ll be on the streets and in the squares,” he told the crowd at City Hall.
The pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party also said it would join Friday’s Istanbul rally.
Officials said Imamoglu and six others were under investigation for “aiding a terrorist organisation” — namely the banned Kurdish PKK militant group. He is also under scrutiny in a graft probe involving about 100 other suspects.
Investigators reportedly began questioning Imamoglu on Friday afternoon, local media reported, saying all of the suspects were due in court on Sunday morning.
– Primary –
Despite Imamoglu’s detention, the CHP vowed it would press ahead with its primary on Sunday at which it would formally nominate him as its candidate for the 2028 race.
The party said it would open the process to anyone who wanted to vote, not just party members, saying: “Come to the ballot box and say ‘no’ to the coup attempt!”
Observers said the government could seek to block the primary to prevent a further show of support for Imamgolu.
“If a large number of people show up and vote for Imamoglu, it will further legitimise him domestically,” Gonul Tol, head of the Turkish studies programme at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told AFP.
“It could really move things in a direction that Erdogan doesn’t want.”
Restrictions on social media and internet access that had been in place since Imamoglu’s arrest were lifted by Friday morning, said internet access monitor EngelliWeb.
The move against Imamoglu has dealt a heavy blow to the Turkish lira, and on Friday the BIST 100 stock exchange was trading lower, shedding 6.63 percent shortly after 1200 GMT.
A judge on Sunday ordered the incarceration for "corruption" of Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, whose arrest on Wednesday sparked a wave of protests in Turkey, one of his lawyers told AFP. Other co-defendants of the mayor, including one of his close advisers, have also been imprisoned, according to Turkish media.
Published : 23/03/2025
By: FRANCE 24
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu addresses supporters outside the Istanbul Courthouse, January 31, 2025. © Emrah Gurel, AP archives
Four days after his arrest, which sparked a wave of protests in Turkey, a judge on Sunday (March 23rd) ordered the imprisonment of Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu for "corruption", one of his lawyers told AFP.
Also prosecuted for "terrorism", Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, was brought on Saturday evening with 90 of his co-defendants to the Istanbul court of Caglayan, protected by a very large police force, before being heard twice during the night.
The Republican People's Party (CHP, social democratic), the main opposition force to which the mayor of Istanbul belongs, denounced "a political coup d'état".
The court ordered on Sunday morning the incarceration of other co-defendants of the mayor, including one of his close advisers, according to Turkish media.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in front of Istanbul City Hall for the fourth consecutive evening in response to the opposition's call to support Ekrem Imamoglu, who denounced "immoral and baseless" accusations against him.
À lire aussiArrestation d'Ekrem Imamoglu : "Erdogan ne veut plus voir le moindre opposant politique"
Vague de protestation d'une ampleur inédite
Des manifestants ont passé la nuit à l'intérieur de la mairie, certains tentant de trouver le sommeil sur des chaises disposées dans le hall du vaste bâtiment en attendant d'être fixés sur le sort du maire, a constaté un photographe de l'AFP.
Pour tenter de prévenir des troubles, le gouvernorat d'Istanbul a prolongé l'interdiction de rassemblements jusqu'à mercredi soir et annoncé des restrictions d'entrée dans la ville aux personnes susceptibles de participer à des rassemblements, sans préciser comment il les mettrait en œuvre.
L'accusation de "soutien à une organisation terroriste" contre Ekrem Imamoglu, figure du CHP, fait redouter à ses soutiens son remplacement par un administrateur nommé par l'État à la tête de la plus grande ville du pays.
Depuis mercredi, la vague de protestation déclenchée par son arrestation s'est répandue à travers la Turquie, atteignant une ampleur inédite depuis le grand mouvement de contestation de Gezi parti de la place Taksim d'Istanbul, en 2013.
Rallies took place in at least 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, more than two-thirds of the country, according to a count by AFP on Saturday. The protests have led to hundreds of arrests in at least nine cities across the country, according to authorities.
To be readEkrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and champion of the opposition to President Erdogan
Erdogan vows not to give in to 'street terror'
"Just as people took to the streets to support Erdogan during the July 15 (2016) coup, we are in the streets to support Imamoglu," Aykut Cenk, 30, told AFP on Saturday night. "We are not the enemies of the state but what is happening is illegal," he added, waving a Turkish flag in front of the Istanbul court in Caglayan where the mayor was being heard.
Paris and Berlin as well as the mayors of several major European cities had also condemned the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday.
In response to the protests, President Erdogan, who himself was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s, vowed not to give in to the "terror of the street".
Ekrem Imamoglu, 53, became Erdogan's bête noire by taking the country's economic capital from the head of state's Justice and Development Party (AKP, Islamo-conservative) in 2019, which had kept control of Istanbul with his camp for twenty-five years.
The opposition mayor, triumphantly re-elected in 2024, was initially scheduled to attend his inauguration on Sunday as his party's candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028.
The CHP decided to maintain the organisation of the primary, which started at 8 a.m. local time (5 a.m. GMT), and called on all Turks, even those who are not registered with the party, to take part.
With AFP
Four days after his arrest, which sparked a wave of protests in Turkey, a judge on Sunday (March 23rd) ordered the imprisonment of Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu for "corruption", one of his lawyers told AFP.
Also prosecuted for "terrorism", Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, was brought on Saturday evening with 90 of his co-defendants to the Istanbul court of Caglayan, protected by a very large police force, before being heard twice during the night.
The Republican People's Party (CHP, social democratic), the main opposition force to which the mayor of Istanbul belongs, denounced "a political coup d'état".
The court ordered on Sunday morning the incarceration of other co-defendants of the mayor, including one of his close advisers, according to Turkish media.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in front of Istanbul City Hall for the fourth consecutive evening in response to the opposition's call to support Ekrem Imamoglu, who denounced "immoral and baseless" accusations against him.
À lire aussiArrestation d'Ekrem Imamoglu : "Erdogan ne veut plus voir le moindre opposant politique"
Vague de protestation d'une ampleur inédite
Des manifestants ont passé la nuit à l'intérieur de la mairie, certains tentant de trouver le sommeil sur des chaises disposées dans le hall du vaste bâtiment en attendant d'être fixés sur le sort du maire, a constaté un photographe de l'AFP.
Pour tenter de prévenir des troubles, le gouvernorat d'Istanbul a prolongé l'interdiction de rassemblements jusqu'à mercredi soir et annoncé des restrictions d'entrée dans la ville aux personnes susceptibles de participer à des rassemblements, sans préciser comment il les mettrait en œuvre.
L'accusation de "soutien à une organisation terroriste" contre Ekrem Imamoglu, figure du CHP, fait redouter à ses soutiens son remplacement par un administrateur nommé par l'État à la tête de la plus grande ville du pays.
Depuis mercredi, la vague de protestation déclenchée par son arrestation s'est répandue à travers la Turquie, atteignant une ampleur inédite depuis le grand mouvement de contestation de Gezi parti de la place Taksim d'Istanbul, en 2013.
Rallies took place in at least 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, more than two-thirds of the country, according to a count by AFP on Saturday. The protests have led to hundreds of arrests in at least nine cities across the country, according to authorities.
To be readEkrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and champion of the opposition to President Erdogan
Erdogan vows not to give in to 'street terror'
"Just as people took to the streets to support Erdogan during the July 15 (2016) coup, we are in the streets to support Imamoglu," Aykut Cenk, 30, told AFP on Saturday night. "We are not the enemies of the state but what is happening is illegal," he added, waving a Turkish flag in front of the Istanbul court in Caglayan where the mayor was being heard.
Paris and Berlin as well as the mayors of several major European cities had also condemned the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday.
In response to the protests, President Erdogan, who himself was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s, vowed not to give in to the "terror of the street".
Ekrem Imamoglu, 53, became Erdogan's bête noire by taking the country's economic capital from the head of state's Justice and Development Party (AKP, Islamo-conservative) in 2019, which had kept control of Istanbul with his camp for twenty-five years.
The opposition mayor, triumphantly re-elected in 2024, was initially scheduled to attend his inauguration on Sunday as his party's candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028.
The CHP decided to maintain the organisation of the primary, which started at 8 a.m. local time (5 a.m. GMT), and called on all Turks, even those who are not registered with the party, to take part.
With AFP
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