Turkey’s authorities detained 343 people in overnight protests across multiple cities against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu‘s detention, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
Protests over the mayor’s detention took place in more than a dozen cities including Turkey’s biggest city 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.”
Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations since Wednesday, when Imamoglu was detained on charges such as graft and aiding a terrorist group. He is President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls.
The mayor’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition, condemned the move as politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.
Protests Across Turkey
“We will not accept the disruption of public order,” Erdogan, 71, told an audience in Istanbul. “Just as we have never yielded to street terrorism, we will not surrender to vandalism.”
The protests, including at university campuses, took place despite a four-day ban on gatherings imposed after the detention.
On Friday evening, big rallies in several cities including Istanbul were held with a call from the CHP. In Istanbul, all roads leading to the Municipality building in Sarachane district were closed under the governor’s order, but thousands of people gathered despite the ban.
In his address, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said some 300,000 people gathered. As Ozel spoke, police used pepper spray and water cannons to disperse the crowd, and protesters charged at police barricades and threw projectiles.
In Izmir, Ankara and other cities, there were also clashes with riot police, who used water cannons on crowds.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on X that 97 people across Turkey were detained during demonstrations.
Tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest the mayor. Such a move could also accelerate a selloff in Turkish assets that has already prompted the central bank to intervene to protect the currency.
Imamoglu, 54, faces charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group.
(With inputs from Reuters)
