, protesting the jailing of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose arrest sparked the country’s largest street demonstrations in more than a decade.){kind=link}
Thousands gathered for a mass rally in Istanbul on Saturday at the call of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), protesting the jailing of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose arrest sparked the country’s largest street demonstrations in more than a decade.
İmamoğlu, a prominent opposition figure widely seen as the main rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was detained on March 19 and subsequently arrested. His detention has triggered nationwide protests and drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups and international criticism.
The rally in Maltepe, on the Asian side of İstanbul, was held on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, which begins Sunday, marking the end of Ramadan.
İmamoğlu was named the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race the same day he was jailed.
Under clear skies, protesters waved banners and posters of the mayor as they chanted slogans on board ferries crossing the Bosporus. “Everywhere is Taksim, resistance is everywhere,” they shouted — referring to İstanbul’s Taksim Square, the symbolic center of the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
CHP leader Özgür Özel told Le Monde he planned to hold rallies every Saturday in cities across Turkey, with additional demonstrations in Istanbul on Wednesdays.
“We believe the arrests will slow down from now on,” Özel told the newspaper. “I’m ready to take the risk of spending eight to 10 years in prison if necessary because if we don’t stop this attempted coup, it will mean the end of the ballot box.”
Protests over İmamoğlu’s detention spread rapidly after his arrest, with nightly demonstrations outside İstanbul City Hall often ending in police interventions. Although the last large rally was held Tuesday, student-led protests have continued across the city.
Lawyer Ferhat Güzel told Agence France-Presse that at least 511 students were detained in Istanbul, many in early-morning raids. Of those, 275 have been jailed, though he said the actual figure is likely higher.
The government has also tightened restrictions on media coverage. Thirteen journalists were detained in the span of five days, according to press groups. While 11 were released Thursday, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgül, two more were arrested Friday.
Among them was Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was detained upon arrival in Turkey and jailed Friday, according to his employer Dagens ETC. The newspaper said the charges were not immediately clear.
Turkish media reported Medin was being investigated for allegedly “insulting the president” and “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
“I know that these accusations are false—100 percent false,” Dagens ETC Editor-in-Chief Andreas Gustavsson wrote on X.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said Medin’s arrest was being taken “seriously.”
BBC journalist Mark Lowen was also held for 17 hours on Wednesday before being deported. Authorities cited “a threat to public order,” while Turkey’s communications directorate later said the deportation was due to a “lack of accreditation.”
Barış Altıntaş, co-director of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), which is providing legal support to many of those detained, told AFP the government appeared intent on limiting coverage of the protests.
“We fear that the crackdown on the press will not only continue but also increase,” she said.
© Agence France-Presse