ISTANBUL, March 22 — Protests against the detention of Istanbul's mayor grew on Friday and turned increasingly tense, Turkiye's biggest show of civil disobedience in more than a decade after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned it would not be tolerated.
Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations since Wednesday, when Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained and charged. He is Erdoğan'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.
"We will not accept the disruption of public order. Just as we have never yielded to street terrorism, we will not surrender to vandalism," Erdoğan, 71, told an audience in Istanbul.
The protests, including at university campuses, took place despite a four-day ban on gatherings imposed after the detention.
On Friday evening, big rallies in several cities, including Istanbul, were held with a call from the CHP. In Istanbul, all roads leading to the Municipality building in Sarachane district were closed under the governor's order, but thousands of people gathered despite the ban.
In his address, CHP leader Özgür Özel said some 300,000 people gathered. As Özel spoke, police used pepper spray and water cannons to disperse the crowd, and protesters charged at police barricades and threw projectiles.
In Izmir, Ankara and other cities, there were also clashes with riot police, who used water cannons on crowds.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 97 people across Turkiye were detained during demonstrations.
Tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest the mayor. Such a move could also accelerate a selloff in Turkish assets that has already prompted the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkiye to intervene to protect the currency.
İmamoğlu, 54, faces charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group. According to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday, he denied corruption charges.
"I strongly reject all allegations," he told police in his defence.
The popular two-term mayor was asked at least 40 questions regarding municipality tenders, the document showed.
European leaders have called the detention a sign of democratic backsliding in Turkiye.
Erdoğan said it was "a dead end" to take to the streets.
"Pointing to the streets instead of the courts to defend theft, looting, illegality, and fraud is gravely irresponsible," he said.
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University students take part in a protest against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, outside the Suleymaniye Mosque at the entrance of the Istanbul University's main campus, in Istanbul, Turkiye, on March 21, 2025. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
Crackdown and protests
Turkiye has curbed civil disobedience since nationwide 2013 Gezi Park protests against the government prompted a violent state crackdown seen as one of the main pivots toward autocracy under Erdoğan's 22-year reign.
The detention of İmamoğlu, the two-term mayor of Turkiye's largest city, caps a months-long legal crackdown on Opposition figures that critics say is designed to undermine their electoral prospects.
The government denies the charges and says the judiciary is independent.
Özel has said Erdoğan fears street protests, called the bans on demonstrations illegal, and has urged people to demonstrate peacefully in defence of their voting rights.
"Break down those barricades without harming the police, take to the streets and squares," he said before the Friday clashes.
On Sunday, the CHP is set to announce İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate for the next elections. The party has called for non-party members to vote to boost public resistance.
The next election is set for 2028. If Erdoğan is eligible to run again, Parliament must schedule it earlier.
Seeking to avoid further legal hurdles, Özel said the CHP would convene an extraordinary congress on April 6 to prevent authorities from appointing an outside trustee to the party. An Ankara prosecutor had opened an earlier probe into alleged irregularities around its last congress in 2023.
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A person walks past a banner with an image of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, as people take part in a protest against the detention of Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkiye, on March 20, 2025. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
Economic fallout
Turkish financial markets have been roiled since the detention. The lira and bonds tumbled and Istanbul shares dropped nearly eight per cent on Friday.
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek told bankers that temporary market fluctuations were being monitored closely and necessary measures were being taken, according to a readout of the meeting from Turkiye's Banks Association.
The Central Bank unexpectedly raised its overnight rate this week and spent about US$10 billion (RM44.2 billion) in foreign reserves on Wednesday to stabilize the currency, which plunged by 12 per cent to an all-time low that day. Inflation was 39 per cent last month.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Özel said the CHP would resist any attempts to remove him and other party officials from the municipal offices where they have been staying since İmamoğlu's detention, and where protests are centred.
A government appointee could replace the mayor due to the charges against him, which include aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkiye and its Western allies.
After the jailed PKK leader called on the group to disarm last month, İmamoğlu's detention risks undermining the government's move to end its 40-year-old insurgency - a plan relying heavily on delicate cooperation with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has said the mayor must be released.
— Reuters
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People take part in a protest against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, in Istanbul, Turkiye, on March 20, 2025. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
