The Turkish government is cracking down on protesters who have taken to the streets to condemn the detention of İstanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, by launching investigations, detaining demonstrators and expanding a ban on protests.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Friday that authorities have opened investigations into 53 people who participated in demonstrations against the mayor’s detention. He also said among 326 social media users who have been detected, 54 of them have been detained over posts allegedly inciting hatred and provoking crime in relation to the situation.
Bazı sosyal medya hesapları üzerinden;
-“Halkı Kin ve Düşmanlığa Tahrik” ve
-“Suç İşlemeye Tahrik” suçları kapsamında 72’si yurt dışında olmak üzere toplam 326 şüpheli hesap yöneticisi tespit edilmiştir.
Siber Suçlarla Mücadele Daire Başkanlığımız ve Güvenlik Daire…— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) March 21, 2025
İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and 86 others, including two district mayors in İstanbul, city officials, businesspeople and journalists, were detained as part of two investigations led by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. They face accusations of corruption and terrorism, which the opposition says are politically motivated.
The detention of İmamoğlu, widely seen as the most powerful political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has sparked protests across Turkey, primarily led by university students, and has drawn widespread condemnation.
In an effort to prevent the protests from spreading, Turkish authorities have imposed a five-day ban on demonstrations in Ankara and İzmir, extending a four-day ban already in place in İstanbul following İmamoğlu’s detention.
Statements from the İzmir and Ankara governor’s offices on Friday said the bans were imposed to “protect public order” and “prevent provocative actions.”
Along with İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir have also seen large demonstrations over the past two days, with police using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, mostly young people and university students.
The mayor’s detention has also drawn international condemnation, with European politicians and observers warning that Turkey is accelerating its shift toward authoritarianism.
Human Rights Watch called for the İstanbul mayor to be “released from police custody immediately,” urging Erdoğan’s government to ensure “that the criminal justice system is not weaponized for political ends.”
By law, Erdoğan — who has been president for more than a decade, having been prime minister for 11 years before that — cannot run again in the 2028 race.
But he wants to amend the constitution to allow that, a move that requires opposition support, which analysts said could be complicated by İmamoğlu’s detention.
İmamoğlu’s detention came several days before he was to be named his party’s presidential candidate in a preliminary election scheduled for March 23 and one day after the revocation of his university degree, which could bar him from running for president.
Turkish constitution requires that presidential candidates have a university degree.