Intermittent protests remain ongoing in several Turkish cities following the recent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, an opposition leader who has long been seen as a potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On March 23, an Istanbul court jailed Imamoglu, a leading member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), pending trial on corruption charges.
After his court appearance, Imamoglu, who denies all charges against him, urged supporters to stage demonstrations across the country.
Erdogan has warned that “disturbances of public order” would not be tolerated, in reference to ongoing protests—in multiple cities—held in support of Imamoglu.
“Those seeking solutions outside democracy, the law, and legitimate channels have always been disappointed,” Erdogan told supporters on March 22.
“There is no privileged minority ... who is free to commit crimes.”
Since March 19, when Imamoglu was first detained by authorities, protests of varying sizes have been held across the country despite a government ban on large public gatherings.
In some cases, police have used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse crowds, although no serious injuries have been reported so far.
Speaking to The Epoch Times, Ilhan Uzgel, the CHP’s deputy chairperson in charge of foreign affairs, said: “The government is escalating its attacks on the Turkish opposition everywhere, in every city.
“Now there are people, especially young people, protesting all over the country.”
On March 24, Turkey’s interior ministry said that more than 1,100 people had been detained countrywide for engaging in “illegal demonstrations.”
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has echoed Erdogan’s warning, asserting that “no actions that harm public order will be permitted.”
Yerlikaya also said that 123 police officers had been injured in the demonstrations, saying that fireworks, Molotov cocktails, and knives had been confiscated from protesters.
Over the weekend, authorities raided the homes of several members of the Turkish Workers’ Party, according to Turkey’s opposition-leaning Biyanet news agency.
Terrorism Charges
On March 19, Turkish authorities first detained Imamoglu, along with dozens of other opposition-affiliated officials, on corruption and terrorism-related charges.The move came only days before the CHP, Turkey’s main opposition party, was expected to nominate him as its candidate for the country’s next presidential election, which is slated for 2028.
Having previously won two terms as Istanbul mayor—in 2019 and 2024—Imamoglu has long been seen as a potential challenger to Erdogan, 71, who has led Turkey for more than two decades as head of the ruling AK Party.
The CHP has dismissed the charges against Imamoglu as politically motivated.
Before his arrest, Imamoglu, 54, had faced two separate investigations, the first of which included accusations of bribery, tender rigging, and other criminal activities allegedly committed during his time in office.
As part of a second investigation, he has also been charged with aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK has waged a violent insurgency against the Turkish state since the mid-1980s. It is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, Brussels, and Washington.
The terrorism-related charges against Imamoglu stem from the CHP’s cooperation with Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) in the run-up to 2024 municipal polls, in which Imamoglu secured a second term as Istanbul mayor.
In the 2024 municipal elections, CHP candidates won in many major cities—including Istanbul and Ankara—at the expense of the ruling AK Party.
Since the 2024 municipal polls, several opposition-affiliated mayors have been removed from their posts after being convicted of corruption and terrorism-related offenses.
These include two CHP mayors in Turkey’s Istanbul Province and eight DEM Party mayors in eastern Turkey, where Kurds account for a large percentage of the population.
All 10 convicted mayors deny the charges leveled against them, claiming that their convictions and subsequent removal from office were politically motivated.
Last month, the European Parliament criticized what it called the “arbitrary dismissal and imprisonment of democratically elected mayors” by the Turkish authorities.
The AK Party-led government dismisses the criticisms, insisting that Turkey’s judicial apparatus functions independently of the ruling party.
Despite ongoing protests in support of Imamoglu, the interior ministry on March 24 launched an investigation into Mansur Yavas, Ankara’s CHP-affiliated mayor, amid allegations of administrative wrongdoing.
Burgeoning Protests
On March 23, Imamoglu was jailed—and temporarily removed from office—pending trial on corruption charges, drawing fresh calls from his supporters for street demonstrations.“Lots of people have hit the streets, even in places like [the northeastern city of] Trabzon, which has long been considered an AK Party stronghold,” Cem Karadeli, an independent Turkish political analyst, told The Epoch Times.
In the five days since Imamoglu’s initial arrest, the largest demonstrations have been seen in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara—Turkey’s three largest cities.
According to Uzgel, the demonstrations have so far remained “mostly very peaceful.”
“They [protesters] are not smashing windows or attacking anyone,” he said.
On March 21, clashes erupted after protesters attempted to march—in defiance of a heavy police presence—from Sarachane to Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
In 2013, Istanbul’s Taksim Square was the venue for mass demonstrations that eventually triggered a wave of anti-government protests across the country.
Remembered as the “Gezi Park incident,” those demonstrations were dispersed only after a weeks-long clampdown by the Turkish authorities.
