Hundreds of thousands of furious protesters have taken to the streets of Istanbul in Turkey for the third consecutive night. The outrage follows the arrest of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.
Despite President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s warning that Turkey would not tolerate “street terrorism”, demonstrators erupted in the city, with police officers fighting back using tear gas. This week has seen Turkey’s largest street protests in over a decade after the president’s biggest political rival was arrested. Leader of the opposition and head of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, told a vast crowd in front of Istanbul City Hall that 300,000 people had joined the demonstration, which he welcomed.
He said: “This is not a CHP rally; the people here are from all parties and have come to show solidarity with Mayor Imamoglu and stand up for democracy, continuing to announce that Erdogan is “trying to twist Imamoglu’s arm by using the judiciary as a weapon and take over this building. But we won’t hand it over to a government-appointed trustee!”
Imamoglu was arrested in a dawn raid at his home on Wednesday for alleged corruption and links to a terrorist organisation.
Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained. Many view the move as a way to remove the popular opposition to Erdogan ahead of the next presidential election in 2028.
However, government officials reject accusations that the legal actions hold any political motivation.
Erdogan said: “We see that an anti-corruption operation in Istanbul is being used as an excuse to stir unrest in our streets. I want it to be known that we will not allow a handful of opportunists to bring unrest to Turkey just to protect their plundering schemes.
“Pointing to the streets instead of courtrooms to defend theft, plunder, lawlessness and fraud is a grave irresponsibility.”
Protests have spread across the country to at least 40 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to media reports.
Rubber bullets and tear gas have been used to disperse the protests, with at least 88 demonstrators being arrested.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 16 police officers had been injured as the police detained 54 people for online posts that authorities deemed “incitement to hatred”.