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.

19 Mart 2025 tarihinden itibaren yapılan yasa dışı gösterilerde bugüne kadar 1.418 şüpheli gözaltına alındı.

Halen gözaltında 979 şüpheli bulunurken bugün 478 şahıs mevcutlu olarak adli makamlara çıkartılacak.

Sokakları terörize etmeye kalkışanlara, milli ve manevi…

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) March 25, 2025

He also condemned protesters who insulted the late mother of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and vowed that security forces would not tolerate any attacks on Turkiye’s national and spiritual values, pledging to prevent attempts to "terrorize the streets."

On Monday, Erdogan urged the opposition to avoid fueling unrest in the country.

Imamoglu, who is widely regarded as Erdogan’s main challenger in the 2028 presidential election, was detained on allegations of links to an organization involved in corruption, bribery, and aiding terrorism. However, prosecutors' efforts to secure his formal arrest in the terrorism probe were rejected.

His detention has ignited widespread protests across Turkiye, with demonstrators defying government-imposed security measures and a ban on rallies in Istanbul that remains in place.

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As detentions continue, the European Commission called on Turkiye to uphold democratic values and respect the right of its citizens to peaceful demonstrations, European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier said on Monday.

"As a Council of Europe member and EU candidate, Turkey must uphold democratic values. These rights, the rights of elected officials, as well as the right of the peaceful demonstrations need to be fully respected," Mercier stated during a midday briefing.

'Never lose hope', Istanbul mayor tells supporters

In light of the events, Imaoglu told his supporters to "Never be sad, never be despondent, never lose hope. We will... remove this black stain on our democracy with our own hands. The day will come when people in charge of this process will answer before the Almighty, both in this world and the next. I stand tall, I will never be broken. Everything will be great," in a post on his X account. 

His message comes amid rising political tensions and protests across Istanbul, where demonstrators have defied bans on public gatherings to condemn what many see as politically motivated charges.

On the same day as Imamoglu's address, Turkish media reported new legal developments. Sozcu TV confirmed that a court had issued a formal arrest warrant for Imamoglu, while Star newspaper reported that a separate request for his arrest in a terrorism investigation was rejected.

According to Halk TV, the mayor plans to challenge the decision, with the final ruling expected from the Constitutional Court.

Later, the primary, organized by Turkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), saw around 15 million people cast their votes, according to the municipality.

"Out of a total of 15 million votes, 13,211,000 were solidarity votes from non-party members," the municipality stated, highlighting broad public backing for Imamoglu.

The event, which was meant to officially position him as the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race, took place just hours before an Istanbul court formalized his arrest in a corruption probe.

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