Turkiye warned Friday against the so -called “illegal” of the main opposition for street protests on the arrest of the mayor of Estanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, after some of the greatest civil disobedience shows in the country in more than a decade.
The warning of the government of President Tayyip Erdogan advances to a possible weekend ruling by a court to formally arrest the mayor, which could increase protests and a strong sale of Turkish assets.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 53 people were arrested and 16 police officers were injured in protests that began on the University Campus, a municipal headquarters of Istanbul and in other places on Thursday, despite a prohibition of four days of public meetings imposed on Wednesday when Imamogl was arrested.
The manifestations caused scattered confrontations.
Imamoglu, who is Erdogan’s main political rival and carries it in some surveys, was arrested facing positions that include graft and helping a terrorist group. It can be held until Sunday, when the court must decide on its arrest.
The Republican Popular Party (CHP) of the mayor’s opposition has condemned the measure as politically motivated and urged people to legally demonstrate, while European leaders have called it democratic setback.
Yerlikaya and the Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, criticized the calls to the action of Chp Ozgur Ozel as “irresponsible.”
“The meeting and march in the protest are fundamental rights. But calling the streets for an ongoing legal investigation is illegal and unacceptable,” Tunc said early on Friday.
Tunc said that the “independent and impartial judiciary” was evaluating the case. He has warned against Erdogan’s link with the arrest of Imamoglu.
The demonstrations took place on Thursday in Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul, as well as other provinces throughout the country, with the police erecting barricades, blocking the streets and the use of water cannons to disperse some crowds, especially students.
‘Theatics’
Turkiye has dramatically stopped civil disobedience from the entire country 2013 Gezi Park Protets against the Government, which caused a violent repression of the state seen as one of the main pivots towards the autocracy under the 22 -year reign of Erdogan.
The president dismissed opposition criticism as “theater” that distract from his internal errors.
Speaking in the main rally of Istanbul on Thursday night, the Ozel of the CHP replied: “Hi Erdogan, you are more afraid of the streets. Now we are in the streets, in squares. Keep being afraid.”
“As long as you keep the one we choose in custody, we will not sit at home,” he said before thousands of followers.
“Mr. Tayyip, you are afraid and you are asking: ‘Are you calling people to the streets? Are you calling people to the squares?’ Yes, yes, yes.
On Friday, Ozel said that the prohibitions of protests were “illegal” and asked people to demonstrate again Friday night without “fighting or violence” to protect their right to vote.
His call increased the pressure on the government and the greatest political tension throughout the country, since many of the Imamoglu supporters had requested stronger steps and organization of the CHP since the detention.
The movement against Imamoglu, 54, a two -period mayor, occurs when the CHP would announce it as its presidential candidate on Sunday. He has asked non -partial members to vote for him at the polls established throughout the country, as a sign of public resistance.
No presidential vote is programmed until 2028, and Erdogan, 71, can work again only if the Parliament calls the early elections.
Bell
Imamoglu detention limits a legal offensive of the months against opposition figures that critics portray as an attempt to damage their electoral perspectives and silence dissent, accuses the government.
Turkiye’s lyre and bonds have fallen since then, with Istanbul shares 7 percent on Friday.
The Central Bank raised its night rate at an unchanging meeting and on Wednesday it only spent about $ 10 billion in FX reserves to help stabilize the currency in around 38 to the dollar, after it fell 12 percent to a historical minimum.
The economy is still weak with inflation to 39 percent despite an effort of almost two years to reverse rising prices and monetary accidents due mainly to the previous support of Erdogan of the unorthodox monetary stimulus.
In an interview on Thursday, Ozel told him Reuters that his party would resist any attempt to get him out of CHP officials from the municipality’s headquarters, where they have been staying since Imamoglu’s arrest. The party would also resist any unfair replacement for Imamoglu, he said.
A designated by the Government could replace the mayor due to the investigation that accuses him of helping the illegal Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), considered a terrorist organization in Turkey and his western allies.
His arrest occurred one day after a university annulled his degree, which if confirmed would prevent him from running for president under constitutional rules that require candidates to have a four -year degree.
