The head of Turkey’s principal opposition party has once again urged supporters to participate in peaceful protests against the detention of Istanbul's mayor and leading political adversary to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested in a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday over alleged corruption and terror links, escalating a crackdown on opposition figures and dissenting voices.
A number of other notable individuals, such as two mayors from different districts, were likewise taken into custody.
A lot of people see this arrest as an effort aimed at eliminating a prominent opposition leader and significant rival to Erdoğan from contention in the upcoming presidential election, which is set for 2028.
Government representatives dismiss claims that judicial proceedings targeting members of the opposition are driven by politics and assert that Turkey's court system functions autonomously.
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Erdoğan stated that his administration would not condone demonstrations in the streets and charged that the opposing political party was linked to corruption, fringe elements, and terror outfits.
"We observe that an anti-graft initiative in Istanbul is being exploited to incite instability on our streets. It must be clear that we won’t permit a small group of profiteers from causing turmoil in Turkey merely to safeguard their looting activities,” stated Erdoğan.
Referring to the streets rather than courthouses for addressing theft, looting, disorder, and deception demonstrates significant negligence.
Following İmamoğlu's detention, crowds have assembled outside Istanbul’s city hall for evening demonstrations, with confrontations breaking out between protesters and law enforcement in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and Turkey’s third-biggest metropolis, İzmir.
The fiercest incident occurred at Ankara's Middle East Technical University late Thursday evening when law enforcement used tear gas and water cannon vehicles to disperse the gathering of protesters.
Students alleged that the police employed rubber bullets; however, the government has refuted these claims.
The Interior Ministry stated that over 50 individuals were apprehended and 16 law enforcement officers sustained injuries following the demonstrations.
On Friday, officials in Ankara and Izmir implemented a five-day restriction on protests, after a comparable prohibition was enforced previously by the Istanbul governor’s office.
Following the acknowledgment of citizens' rights to protest by the nation’s justice minister, the ban was imposed because holding demonstrations in public spaces during active judicial inquiries was deemed inappropriate.
Despite this, Özgür Özel, who serves as the chairperson of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has issued a fresh call for citizens to assemble and protest.
“I urge tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions to come together for peaceful demonstrations, to voice our democratic response and uphold our constitutional privileges,” he stated.
For those who claim that urging individuals to take to the streets is irresponsible, my response is as follows: We did not fill these streets and plazas; rather, it is your unlawful actions and acts of injustice that have driven people into public spaces.
Imamoğlu's detention occurred mere days before he was anticipated to be selected as the nominee for the opposition party CHP in the upcoming presidential primaries scheduled for this Sunday.
Özel has stated that the primary, which allows approximately 1.5 million delegates to cast their votes, will proceed as scheduled.
The CHP has additionally encouraged people to take part in a symbolic vote on Sunday — at polling stations established throughout Turkey — as a sign of support for İmamoğlu.
Experts suggest that İmamoğlu might face removal from his position and potentially be substituted by an ‘acting mayor’ if he is officially accused of having ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union, and its Western partners.
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