Police used water cannons and tear gas to break up protests in Turkey on Thursday night, as thousands took to the streets over the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The mayor is regarded as a leading opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and was set to be named as a candidate this week for 2028’s presidential election.
İmamoğlu was taken into custody on Wednesday (March 19), facing charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group, a move that the opposition condemned as a “coup attempt” and that sparked an initial round of demonstrations.
The move against İmamoğlu, the popular two-term mayor, caps an alleged months-long crackdown on opposition figures that has been criticized as an attempt to smother opposition to the government, an allegation it denies.
In the western city of İzmir, demonstrators were hit by water cannons, while protesters in the capital, Ankara, clashed with police who fired tear gas and baton rounds at the crowds.
koca bir neslin ilk biber gazı oldu, izmir bayraklı akp il binası yolunda pic.twitter.com/WEswzMRnut
— ömer (@omertost) March 20, 2025
“Mr. Tayyip, you are scared and you are asking, ‘are you calling people to the streets? Are you calling people to the squares?’ Yes. I didn’t fill up these squares or these streets; you did,” Özel said.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç criticized Özel’s words, calling them “irresponsible.”
“Gathering and marching in protest are fundamental rights. But calling people onto the streets over a legal investigation is illegal and unacceptable,” Tunç said on X after midnight on Thursday.
So far, Turkish authorities have detained over 100 politicians, journalists and business figures, as well as 37 X users, over posts supposedly “inciting” public hatred or crime.
