More than 340 people were detained following Turkey’s biggest street protests in over a decade, sparked by the detention of the mayor of İstanbul, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets late Friday across the country, leading to clashes with riot police in Turkey’s three largest cities: İstanbul, the capital of Ankara and the western coastal city of İzmir.
Yerlikaya said, “Three hundred forty-three suspects were caught in the protests that took place in İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Antalya, Çanakkale, Eskişehir, Konya and Edirne,” warning that people who sought to sow “chaos and provocation … will definitely not be tolerated.”
It was the third consecutive night of demonstrations in support of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most prominent political rival. His detention on Wednesday triggered a widespread show of defiance that spread from Istanbul to more than 50 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
Clashes broke out in several cities as riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse protesters in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.
After spending his third night in custody, İmamoğlu — who was detained just days before the Republican People’s Party (CHP) was expected to name him its 2028 presidential candidate — began speaking to police on Saturday morning in connection with a terrorism investigation, party sources told AFP.
He was expected to appear before prosecutors at Çağlayan Courthouse at 1800 GMT to be questioned in the terrorism investigation as well as a corruption probe, the sources said.
İmamoğlu, who was re-elected with a strong mandate last year, is already named in several investigations. He and six others are accused of aiding and abetting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
He is also under investigation for bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of an alleged criminal organization involving 99 other suspects.