Turkey opposition calls mass rally in Istanbul
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A mass rally organized by Turkey's opposition CHP in response to the imprisonment of Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is set to take place in Istanbul on Saturday.
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Protesters gather in front of riot police during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 25, 2025 (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Protesters are set to gather in a mass rally in Istanbul on Saturday, organized by Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, in response to the imprisonment of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. Imamoglu, a key figure in the party, was arrested on March 19, sparking 10 days of large-scale street protests, the country's biggest in a decade.
His detention and the consequent protest have led to a harsh government crackdown, drawing sharp condemnation from human rights organizations and international criticism.
The rally, starting at 09:00 GMT in Maltepe on the Asian side of Istanbul, marks the first CHP-led demonstration since Tuesday and falls just before the Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Imamoglu, widely viewed as a strong challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was announced as the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential election on the day of his arrest.
"Imamoglu's candidacy for president is the beginning of a journey that will guarantee justice and the nation's sovereignty. Let's go to Maltepe.. and start our march to power together!" CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said on X.
Ekrem İmamoğlu’nun Cumhurbaşkanı adaylığı; adaletin ve milletin egemenliğinin teminatı olacak bir yolculuğun başlangıcıdır.
— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) March 28, 2025
Gelin, yarın saat 12.00’de Maltepe’ye koşalım, meydanda buluşalım, iktidar yürüyüşümüzü hep birlikte başlatalım! pic.twitter.com/n2dCF7sFj1
Turkiye escalated its arrest campaign on Friday, arresting a lawyer and several journalists as the wave of protests continued for the second week.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, was arrested in an overnight raid on Thursday, prompting Imamoglu to claim that Pehlivan was "detained on fictitious grounds," in a post on X published by his legal team.
Turkish authorities have arrested more than 1,400 people protesting Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's arrest, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday.
Demonstrations backing Imamoglu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), have been ongoing since last week in Sarachane Square, outside the metropolitan municipality building. Authorities have banned protests in Istanbul and several other Turkish cities, yet gatherings have continued.
"From March 19 to Tuesday, 1,418 suspects were detained during illegal demonstrations. 478 of them will be brought to court today," Yerlikaya wrote on X.
It is worth noting that in Istanbul, at least 511 students were detained, many during predawn raids, with 275 of them being jailed, according to lawyer Ferhat Guzel, who acknowledged that the actual number was "probably much higher."
The authorities have also intensified their crackdown on media coverage, arresting 13 Turkish journalists in just five days, deporting a BBC correspondent, and detaining a Swedish reporter who arrived in Istanbul to report on the unrest.
While 11 journalists were released on Thursday, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, two more were detained on Friday, along with Imamoglu's lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, who was later granted conditional release.
Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who had flown to Turkey on Thursday to cover the protests, was arrested on Friday, with his employer, Dagens ETC, informing AFP that the charges against him were unclear.
