10/26/2025–|Last update: 03/26/202501:19 am (Mecca time)
Turkish citizens have continued to demonstrate against the municipality of Istanbul for the seventh consecutive day at the invitation of the opposition, whose chief called a massive demonstration on Saturday to support the imprisoned mayor of the city Akram Imamoglu.
The demonstrations continue in Türkiye, where more than 1,400 demonstrators have been suspended since the start of a large move last Wednesday in the context of the arrest of Imamoglu, which is described as the first political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tuesday evening, the leader of the Republican Popular Party – the main force of the Turkish opposition to which Imamoglu belongs – called on Saturday in Istanbul to support the imprisoned mayor of the city.
Ozer Ozil went to a crowd gathering in front of the building of the municipality of Istanbul, saying: “Are you going to participate in the major demonstration on Saturday to support Akram Imamoglu, and to oppose his arrest (…) and say that we want early elections?”
For his part, President Erdogan declared during a breakfast ceremony in the Turkish capital, Ankara, that he was not allowed to attack the security forces, mosques and cemeteries, in order to comment on the demonstrations of the Republican People’s Party in Istanbul and a number of cities in the country.
The Turkish authorities have announced the arrest of 1418 people since March 19 for their participation in rallies prohibited by the authorities which have been faced with unprecedented demonstrations since the “Gizi” movement, which left Taksim Square in Istanbul in 2013.
A court in Istanbul ordered Tuesday to deposit 7 Turkish journalists for prior detention for having participated in gatherings prohibited since last week in the 3 largest cities in the country.
The Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerli Qaya announced that 979 demonstrators had been arrested by the police, while 478 people were referred to the courts.
Gatherings
On Tuesday, the authorities of the state of Ankara announced the extension of the ban on the Turkish capital until April 1, in the context of the demonstrations against the arrest of Imamoglu for “corruption” and “support for terrorism”.
The authorities made a similar decision to Izmir, the third largest city in the country and the opposition bastion until March 29.
The prohibition itself is 6 days ago in Istanbul, but the demonstrators take up a challenge every evening in front of the municipality’s headquarters.
To protest against the arrest of Imamoglu, demonstrations broke out last week in at least 55 states of the country’s 81st provinces, according to the French news agency, a number that the authorities have not officially confirmed.
Blessings
The Council of Europe condemned on Tuesday what he described as “the unequal use of power” during the country’s demonstrations, and called on the authorities to “respect their human rights obligations”.
On Tuesday, the United Nations expressed their concern concerning Türkiye’s appeal to collective arrests in the midst of demonstrations in the country, and the authorities urged the investigation of the accusations of using the illegal force against the demonstrators.
On Tuesday, the French presidency called for the liberation of Imamoglu, and Türkiye urged behavior as “important democratic partner”, as she said.
“We denounce the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, and we hope to release it (…) Turkey is an important partner, but we want an important democratic partner,” said French president Emmanuel Macron – at a press conference.
The Republican People’s Party called to boycott 11 brands known to be close to the authorities, including a famous series of cafes. “We can prepare the coffee ourselves,” said Ozil.
“Stop disturbing our citizens with your provocations,” said Erdogan on Monday evening, going to the opposition to a television speech.
Crisis fuse
The authorities arrested the imamoglu last Wednesday, for “corruption” and “assist a terrorist group”. It is the most eminent political competitor of Erdogan and progress in certain opinion polls.
For its part, the Party of the Republican People – to which Imamoglu belonged – condemned the arrest and declared that his motivations were political and called to demonstrations, and the leader confirmed that the opposition intended to continue his demonstrations, saying: “We will be in the streets from now on. We, the streets for us and the arenas for us”.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Friday – responded to opposition calls to demonstrations, saying that “Türkiye will not tolerate any threat to public order”, and is committed to standing firmly against sabotage and violence in the streets.
Imamoglu, 54, who held the post of mayor of Istanbul for two periods – came a few days before the Party of the Republican People appointed him for the presidential elections, which has already been held last Monday.
The next presidential elections are expected to take place in 2028, and Erdogan, 71, has exhausted the chances of candidacy for the presidency specified for two periods. If he wants to run again, he must call on early elections before the end of his current presidential mandate.
Imamoglu was reserved one day after the University of Istanbul has canceled its diploma, which, if supported, will prevent it from presenting themselves to the presidency according to the constitutional rules which oblige candidates to obtain a university diploma after a 4 -year study.