Britain on Thursday urged Turkey’s government to uphold the rule of law amid mass protests that have followed the arrest of İstanbul’s popular opposition mayor, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Because we share a strong and important relationship with Turkey, and as with all our allies, we expect the upholding of shared international commitments and the rule of law, including timely and transparent judicial processes,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement emailed to AFP.
“Around the world we support democracy, the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and media freedom.”
Ekrem İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was arrested on Sunday and subsequently removed from office. He, as well as more than 100 others in two investigations launched by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, face terrorism and corruption charges, which many critics say are politically motivated to sideline the mayor ahead of the next presidential election.
Britain’s foreign ministry has updated its travel advice for Turkey, urging Britons to avoid crowds and demonstrations, which erupted on March 19.
Earlier on Thursday Turkey deported BBC journalist Mark Lowen, who had been covering the protests on the grounds he posed “a threat to public order,” the British broadcaster said.
The British foreign ministry’s reaction came in the wake of criticism from CHP leader Özgür Özel who, during an interview with BBC on Wednesday, expressed regret over the silence of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about İmamoğlu’s arrest.
He said while other European leaders and countries are condemning the arrest of İstanbul Mayor İmamoğlu, the silence of Starmer and his Labour Party is “really hard to understand.”
“We feel abandoned. What kind of friendship is this, what kind of a brother party is this? How can the UK, the cradle of democracy, and our brother party, the Labour Party, remain silent about this? We are truly offended,” Özel said.
Both Labour and the CHP are members of the Party of European Socialists and the Progressive Alliance. Labour holds observer status in the London-based Socialist International, while the CHP is a member.
The arrest of İmamoğlu and other opposition politicians has attracted widespread criticism from Europe, the UN and some political parties and organizations around the continent.
İmamoğlu is widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest potential political challenger. His arrest has sparked nights of street protests on a scale unseen in Turkey since 2013.