Turkish authorities have detained 1 133 people across Turkey since protests began five days ago against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Monday, the 24th of March, reports Reuters.
Imamoglu’s detention last Wednesday, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, has sparked Turkey’s biggest street protests in more than a decade. On Sunday, a court remanded him in custody pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.
Despite bans on street demonstrations, the largely peaceful anti-government demonstrations continued for a fifth consecutive night on Sunday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part.
Aerial footage showing the scale of the protests against Erdoğan in Turkey pic.twitter.com/IAWyhRQs3w
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 24, 2025
Yerlikaya said that 123 police officers had been injured so far during the protests, adding that the government would not tolerate “terrorising the streets”.
Protests in Turkey continue. Reportedly, they are now happening all over the country, not just Istanbul. https://t.co/8q3QVFDRqS pic.twitter.com/8QfRfhspCN
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 23, 2025
Among those detained are nine journalists who were covering the overnight protests in several cities, the Turkish Union of Journalists said on Monday.
Imamoglu’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has called for protests against the court’s decision to arrest the mayor, which they call politicised and undemocratic.
Imamoglu has denied the charges against him as “unimaginable accusations and slanders” and has also called for nationwide protests.
Erdogan said last week that the government would not accept “disturbances of public order”. His government denies that the investigations are politically motivated and maintains that the courts are independent.
Omer Çelik, spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, said on Monday that the CHP’s call for protests was aimed at covering up the opposition’s shortcomings.
“Democratic protest is a (fundamental) right, but the language used by the CHP is not the language of democratic protest,” Çelik said.
On Sunday, 54-year-old Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested while his party, the CHP, was holding an election to nominate him as a presidential candidate. Some 15 million people voted for him.
The news of Imamoglu’s arrest was on the front pages of Turkish newspapers on Monday, with opposition media suggesting that the mayor was arrested for being Erdogan’s most realistic rival.
Supporters called his arrest unjust, saying there is no justice in Turkey.
Addressing protesters outside Istanbul municipality building, CHP leader Özgür Özel said on Sunday that they would continue their protests until Imamoglu was released.