Hundreds Of Anti-Erdogan Protesters Arrested Overnight As Crisis Slides: ‘Fight About Democracy’

Via The Cradle

Turkish police have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.

Demonstrations took place across the country, including in Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the ministry said in a statement. It said the detentions were made to prevent “disrupting of public order” and warned that authorities would not tolerate “chaos and provocation.”

The Republican People’s Party (CHP), of which Imamoglu is a member, said the detentions were politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully. The protests are the biggest in Turkey since the massive demonstrations of 2013 to protest the demolition of Istanbul’s Gezi Park, Kurdistan 24 reported.

“There is a great anger. People are spontaneously taking to the streets. Some young people are being politicized for the first time in their lives,” said Yuksel Taskin, a lawmaker from the CHP.

“The feeling of being trapped — economically, socially, politically, and even culturally — was already widespread,” journalist and author Kemal Can told AFP.

The protests began on March 19 after Mayor Imamoglu was detained at his home that morning on terrorism and corruption charges. “I see today during my interrogation that I and my colleagues are faced with unimaginable accusations and slanders,” Imamoglu said in his defense during a counter-terrorism police interrogation, a court document viewed by Reuters showed.

HAPPENING NOW: Scenes show the massive scale of ongoing protests across Turkey, now entering their third consecutive day.

Demonstrations continue to spread nationwide, as police respond with tear gas, water cannons, and pepper spray in multiple cities. pic.twitter.com/0tpG8tpJvG

— red. (@redstreamnet) March 21, 2025

Imamoglu is considered a prominent rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was set to run for his party’s presidential primary on 23 March – during which he was expected to be chosen as the CHP candidate for future presidential elections scheduled for 2028.

According to the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office, Imamoglu and others have been accused of “running a criminal organization, membership of a criminal organization, corruption, bribery, fraud, illegally obtaining personal data, and corruption in a public tender.”

He has also been accused of “aiding” the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – outlawed in Turkiye – by participating in an “urban consensus initiative” aimed at bolstering the Kurdish group’s influence in last year’s local elections.

Imamoglu’s arrest came a day after Istanbul University nullified his diploma, making him ineligible to run in elections under Turkish law.

Anti-riot measures being deployed by police. The Guardian has said it is becoming a “fight about democracy”…

BREAKING: Protesters are pushing back riot police and water cannons in Ankara amid massive anti-government protests across Turkey. pic.twitter.com/OvberI0gGu

— red. (@redstreamnet) March 21, 2025

Since the detention, Ankara has identified hundreds of X accounts and detained 37 social media users for “provocative posts inciting crime and hatred,” Turkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday. 

“Efforts to catch the other suspects are ongoing,” the minister added. Restrictions have been imposed on several social media platforms.