The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in İstanbul on Tuesday announced the launch of an investigation into people calling for a boycott of pro-government businesses and media over the arrest of İstanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement Tuesday evening that it had opened an investigation into individuals making calls for a boycott on social and traditional media aimed at preventing a segment of the public from engaging in economic activity. The investigation accuses the people behind the call of fomenting hatred and discrimination and inciting the public to hatred and hostility, crimes punishable under the Turkish Penal Code.
The prosecutor’s office’s statement came one day before a “no-buy day” declared by university students leading protests against the mayor’s arrest. The initiative has been backed by İmamoğlu’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Among the people calling for the no-buy day are students from a number of universities, from Middle East Technical University in Ankara to the Boğaziçi, Galatasaray and İstanbul universities in İstanbul.
“We are exerting our economic power, taking a one-day break from consumerism after the holiday,” the students say.
Their call has also been endorsed by many on social media who vowed not to buy anything on Wednesday as well as some store owners who announced they wouldn’t open for business on Wednesday in an act of solidarity.
The boycott campaign was initially launched by CHP leader Özgür Özel during a demonstration outside İstanbul City Hall a day after İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s arrest. Özel named nearly two dozen brands, including popular bookstores and coffee chains, and urged people to cancel subscriptions and support independent businesses instead.
İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, was arrested March 23 on corruption charges that many say are politically motivated. His detention has sparked widespread protests unseen in the country since 2013 and has intensified tensions.
İmamoğlu expressed support for the boycott in a post on his X account on Monday, which is managed by his lawyers.
The statement from the prosecutor’s office has led to jokes and ridicule on social media, with many questioning whether people who refuse to shop on Wednesday and buy anything will be punished.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya described the boycott as a “coup attempt” against the Turkish economy, while Erdoğan last week accused people joining the boycott campaign of “sabotaging” the Turkish economy.
The opposition recalls Erdoğan and his government officials’ previous statements in which they said a boycott was a right and that people are free to buy or not to buy things from certain stores.
The opposition accuses the government of intimidating the protestors with judicial action.