Massive protest erupts as Istanbul’s mayor gets arrested

Massive protests erupted in a second day of protests on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

Thousands of Turkish demonstrators took to the streets for a second day of protests.

Online media reports say the protesters denounced the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a graft and terror probe.

His party has described the terror probe as a political ‘coup.’

Turkish riot police fired teargas and rubber bullets on Thursday, as demonstrators protested for a second outside Istanbul City Hall.

The powerful and popular Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, was detained before dawn on Wednesday.

This was just days before he was to be named as the candidate of his opposition CHP party for the 2028 presidential election.

Imamoglu has urged the nation and the judiciary branch to take a stand against what his party described as a political “coup.”

You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it.

The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly forbidden.

It was the second night that thousands had defied a protest ban to gather outside City Hall to express their anger at Imamoglu’s detention.

Taksim Square and Gezi Park, both renowned for mass public protests over a decade ago, remained fenced off.

Social media and internet access was largely restricted for a second day.

More than 80 people were rounded up in Wednesday’s raids and investigators began quizzing them early on Thursday, local media said.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP party, warned the police not to provoke demonstrators by firing tear gas or rubber bullets.

“If that happens, the Istanbul police will be held accountable,” he warned from the podium.

“Mayor Ekrem is not involved in corruption, nor terror. He’s not a thief nor a terrorist,” Ozel said, warning Erdogan that the protests would not stop.

“I didn’t fill this square and these streets. You did. They are full because of you,” he said.

The CHP has angrily denounced his arrest as a political “coup.”

Ozel said that Imamoglu’s only crime was “taking the lead in opinion polls.”

After spending his first night in custody, Imamoglu called on the nation and the judiciary to take a stand against the government’s move to silence dissent.

He sent this in a message on X passed through his lawyers.

“We as a nation must stand against this evil,” he said.

He urged judges and prosecutors to “stand up and take action against those who are ruining the judiciary.”

“You cannot and must not remain silent,” wrote the 53-year-old.

Already named in a growing list of legal probes, Imamoglu, who was resoundingly re-elected last year, has been accused of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation.”

The name of the terrorist organization was given as the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.

He is also under investigation for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud.

His other crime was illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organization” along with 99 other suspects.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya also said 37 people had been detained for posting content online that was deemed “provocative.”

He stated that more investigations were underway.

Human Rights Watch called for the Istanbul mayor to be “released from police custody immediately.”

It urged Erdogan’s government to ensure “that the criminal justice system is not weaponized for political ends.”

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook