US EditionLarge crowds rally in Istanbul over jailing of Erdogan's main rival
- Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a key political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested earlier this month on corruption charges, sparking mass pro-democracy protests in Turkey.
- Imamoglu, who has served as Istanbul's mayor since 2019 and was re-elected last year, and his party claim that his arrest is politically motivated, an attempt by Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party to undermine his support.
- Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have flooded Istanbul's streets, demanding Imamoglu's release and chanting slogans such as "Rights, law, justice!", while CHP chairman read a letter from Imamoglu to the demonstrators.
- In the letter, Imamoglu stated, "It was a political operation-- not a legal one-- timed just days before CHP's presidential primary," and "But what followed was far more powerful than the repression itself: people from all across Trkiye stood up."
- The Turkish government insists the courts are independent and denies the arrest is politically motivated, while authorities have responded to the protests with tear gas and rubber bullets, leading to over 1,879 people detained since March 19, including journalists covering the events, drawing criticism from international rights groups and foreign leaders.
350 Articles
350 Articles
Mass protests target Erdogan’s grip on power in Turkey
Five days after the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said it would no longer hold protests against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the arrest of its presidential candidate, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital on Saturday. Now, the CHP has vowed to continue the protests until the authorities release Imamoglu and clear him to run for the presidency. Fall from grace. Just t…
Mass demonstrations continue in Istanbul, Turkey, with more than 2 million people taking part over the weekend, according to opposition leader Ozgur Ozel, who organized the rally, but the figure could not be independently confirmed. Some 2,000 people, including journalists, have been arrested so far during the protests. The protests began after the arrest of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on March 19 on charges of corruption and terrorism. Im…
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested in Turkey under dubious circumstances. People in Berlin, too, have now taken to the streets.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part on Saturday in a massive demonstration called by the opposition in Istanbul to protest the arrest of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival.]]>
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