Protesters rally in Turkey against Istanbul mayor’s detention

In Turkey, huge crowds gathered outside Istanbul City Hall for a fourth night of protests over the arrest of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who told police Saturday the allegations against him were "immoral and baseless". Turkish authorities have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. Demonstrations took place in more than a dozen cities including Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the ministry said in a statement. President Tayyip Erdogan accuses opposition of trying to ‘polarise our people’.

MOMENT Ankara police unleash water cannons on protesters

OVER 343 arrested so far

Erdogan accuses opposition of trying to ‘polarise our people’ https://t.co/6ujY3tNAyA pic.twitter.com/9yULDh307O

— RT (@RT_com) March 22, 2025

Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations since Wednesday, when Imamoglu was detained on charges such as graft and aiding a terrorist group. He is President Erdogan’s main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls. The mayor’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition, condemned the move as politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.The demonstrations, which began in Istanbul on Wednesday, have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, sparking violent clashes with riot police in the country's worst street protests in more than a decade.
Imamoglu's arrest came just days before he was to have been formally named as the main opposition CHP's candidate in the 2028 presidential race. Following a night in which organisers said 300,000 protesters had rallied in Istanbul, there were similar numbers on Saturday. The boulevard outside the City Hall was a sea of red Turkish flags and angry banners reading: "Dictators are cowards!" News of his arrest badly hurt the lira and caused chaos on Turkey's financial markets with benchmark BIST 100 index closing Friday nearly 8.0 percent lower. Erdogan warned that the authorities would not tolerate "street terror". "For four days, they have been doing everything they can to disturb the peace and divide our people," railed Erdogan on Saturday. "The days when politics and justice are guided by street terror are totally in the past," he said.