“We are here with 300,000 people,” proclaimed the CHP leader in front of Istanbul City Hall, where the party had called the crowd
The Turkish police were now involved in clashes with protesters in the cities of Istanbul and Izmir (West), in protests convened by the opposition against the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and the president.
According to AFP and Turkish media, in Istanbul the police used rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who left the street for the third consecutive night.
In Izmir, the third largest city in the country, police used water cannons against protesters, the same sources report.
According to EFE, at the door of Dokuz Eylüla University in Izmir, police used sticks, water and tear gas to suppress a student protest.
Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the main Turkish opposition party, the People’s Republican Party (CHP, social democrat), said 300,000 protesters took to the street in Istanbul in support of Imamoglu, detained on Wednesday on charges of “corruption” and “terrorism.”
“We are here with 300,000 people,” proclaimed the CHP leader in front of Istanbul City Hall, where the party had summoned the crowd.
In response to the protests of recent days, the authorities of Ankara and Izmir banned all demonstrations until next Tuesday.
The Istanbul government prohibited concentrations by the end of March and today ordered the widespread closure of all access roads to the City Council.
Contrary to the Order, a group of workers, members of the Federation of Revolutionary Workers Unions (Disk), marched today towards Saraçhane Square, where the Chamber is located.
“They will respect the people’s constitutional right to protest democratically. Any order against this is illegal,” said Ozgür Ozel, the leader of the CHP.
In the protest held on Thursday in Istanbul, the Turkish police used rubber and tear gas bullets while looking for a group of young protesters heading towards the emblematic Taksim Square.
Police also used water cannons and rubber bullets in Ankara, according to AFP.
Security forces detained 53 people and 16 police were injured in the clashes with protesters.
Imamoglu, 53, was arrested on Wednesday by alleged suspicions of corruption and terrorist calls, along with dozens of elements of his party.
The opposition considered it to be a political action before the party’s primary, scheduled for Sunday, which would consecrate the mayor as a competitor against the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the upcoming elections.
On the third day of protests against the arrest of his political rival, Erdogan today accused the opposition of being trying to provoke chaos in the country.
“Turkey is not a country that is on the street and will not surrender to street terrorism,” said Erdogan, after the convening of a new demonstration for today.
The Turkish President described Ozel’s appeal to new demonstrations as “a serious irresponsibility” for trying to bring to the streets a case that said to be from the area of justice.
Since Wednesday, demonstrations have been held in at least 32 of the 81 provinces of Türkiye, according to an AFP count.
The current place of protests has not been preceded by the major demonstrations that began in Taksim Square in 2013.
Imamoglu, whose interrogation by the investigators began today, according to state -owned TRT, should be announced as CHP candidate for the next presidential elections on Sunday.
But Istanbul’s state university canceled the imamoglu diploma on Tuesday night, creating one more obstacle, as the Constitution requires any presidential candidate to have a higher education title.
Imamoglu was reelected in 2024 after winning Istanbul in 2019 to the Justice and Development Party (AKP, in the acronym in Turkish), the conservative Islamic formation in the power led by Erdogan.
