Turkish authorities have detained 37 people for allegedly posting “provocative” messages on social media in response to the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Thursday.
Yerlikaya said investigators identified 261 social media users accused of posting comments that incited public hatred or encouraged criminal activity. Of those, 62 are believed to be based outside Turkey.
He added that authorities are continuing efforts to track down additional suspects beyond the 37 already in custody.
The minister also said Turkey’s cybercrime division conducts 24-hour monitoring of online activity under existing laws. Critics argue that such surveillance is part of a broader crackdown on dissent, with rights groups accusing the government of using cybercrime laws to silence opposition voices and limit free expression.
The detentions come after two separate investigations that led to arrest warrants for 106 individuals, including İmamoğlu, on Wednesday.
Between the arrests and 6 a.m. on Thursday, more than 18.6 million tweets were posted on the social media platform X about the detentions, according to officials.
İmamoğlu was detained early Wednesday at his İstanbul residence in a police raid involving around 20 officers. Authorities also detained more than 80 others, including senior municipal officials, mayors, artists and a prominent journalist in separate investigations.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office accused İmamoğlu of “leading a criminal organization” involved in corruption and aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as well as “extortion,” “bribery,” “fraud,” “illegal acquisition of personal data” and “bid-rigging.”
Authorities claim the corruption investigation stems from leaked footage showing members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), to which İmamoğlu belongs, counting cash. Prosecutors allege that İmamoğlu and his associates forced businesspeople to pay bribes, laundered money through proxy transactions and used private citizens to manage illicit cash flows.
In a separate investigation, İmamoğlu and six others, including Şişli district Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, face allegations of aiding the PKK. İmamoğlu strongly denied all charges, describing his detention as political persecution.