The protests began in Istanbul after the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday, March 19 and since then They have extended to more than 55 of the 81 provinces of Türkiyebecoming the greatest manifestations in more than a decade.
The popular 53 -year -old mayor was considered by many as the only politician capable of defeating Erdogan at the pollswhich has been in power for more than two decades.
In only four days he went from being mayor of Istanbul, a position that launched the political rise of Erdogan decades before, to be arrested, interrogated, imprisoned and stripped of the Mayor’s Office following an investigation by corruption.
Imamoglu, which was officially dismissed his position on March 23spent his first night in jail, in Silivri, on the outskirts of Istanbul.
Despite his arrest, he was chosen on Sunday by overwhelming majority candidate of the CHP, the main opposition party, for the 2028 presidential elections, with 15 million votes.
According to analysts, it was the imminent primary ones that triggered the arrest of Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival. The latter Turkish politics has dominated since 2003, first as Prime Minister and then as president.
Germany crossed out the detention of Imamoglu, France said it is a serious attack against democracywhile Greece said that measures that threaten civil liberties cannot be tolerated.
Arrest Sparks Turkey’s Worsst Street unrest in more than a decade.
Riot Police used Rubber Bullets, Pepper Spray and Percussion Grenades on Demonstraors Rallying in istanbul to Protest The Arrest of Major Ekrem Imamoglu.
The Unrest has spread rapidly, waste Ban on protest … pic.twitter.com/ynuwuwgiv3
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 24, 2025
The European Union, a block to which Türkiye aspires to adhere, urged the authorities to Respect democratic values.
Turkish police have arrested more than 1,133 people for illegal activities From the beginning of the protests, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
Ten Turkish journalists, including an AFP photographerwere arrested this March 23 in their respective addresses in Istanbul and Izmir, the third city of the country, to cover the protests, the Turkish Association of Human Rights Defense MLSA reported.
“What is being done to the members of the press and journalists is a matter of freedom. None of us can remain silent before this“, Denounced Imamoglu, Dilek Kaya Imamogl, in X.
“I will win this war!”
The students of the main universities of Istanbul and Ankara They called to boycott the classes. The protesters also prepared to go out again in front of the Mayor’s Office of Istanbul, as on the previous nights.
On March 23, tens of thousands of people They gathered the surroundings of the City Council, where confrontations between protesters and police produced, according to AFP journalists.
The Esmirna Bar Association reported arrest of two local lawyersamong them their former director, who represented the protesters.
In the early hour on Monday, the governor of Istanbul, Davut Gul, accused the protesters of damaging mosques and cemeteries. “No attempt to alter public order will be tolerated,” warned in X.
While he was transferred to Silivri’s prison, Imamoglu described the judicial measures adopted against him as a political execution without trial.
In a subsequent message sent from jail, while tens of thousands of people concentrated for the fifth consecutive night, he was challenging.
“I wear a white shirt that they will not be able to stain. I have a strong arm that they cannot twist. I will not go back a millimeter. I will win this war! “he declared in a message transmitted through his lawyers.
Given the mass protests, the Turkish authorities tried to close more than 700 accounts in X, the platform reported on March 23.