Turkiye went to a fourth consecutive night of protests on Saturday night, such as the largest disturbances of the street that the country has seen in more than a decade in regards to the arrest of the mayor of Estanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu.
The authorities said that 343 people have been arrested in the demonstrations, which have seen hundreds of thousands of exits in the streets of the largest cities in Turkiye in a massive show of challenge.
Imamoglu, President Rece Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, was questioned by the police today and had to appear before prosecutors later in the day.
He was arrested on Wednesday, days before the CHP candidate for the main opposition for presidential race 2028 was formally appointed.
Since then, the riot police repeatedly crashed with the protesters, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against them in Istanbul, the capital of Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir.
The demonstrations have extended to more than 50 of the 81 provinces of Turkiye, with Diyarbakir, the main city in the Southeast Kurdish majority that is expected to join the demonstrations on Saturday.
The renewed protests were expected today in 1730 GMT, despite their prohibition and Erdogan’s warning that the Turkish authorities would not tolerate the “street terror.”
Police interviewed the mayor of Istanbul for five hours today in relation to an investigation of “terror.” He had to appear before prosecutors in the Palace of Justice of Caglayan in 1630 GMT, said a source in the City Council.
Already appointed in a growing list of legal probes, Imamoglu, which was flatly re -elected last year, has been accused of “helping and inciting a terrorist organization,” that is, the prohibited PKK Kurdo.
It is also under investigation by “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organization.”
Several hours before their appearance, the authorities announced that they were sealing the main roads that led to the Court.
‘Without explanation’
“Mr. Imamoglu denies all the charges against him,” said one of his lawyers, Mehmet Pehlivan, after the police questioned the mayor on Friday for six hours about the accusation of the graft.
In a message about X sent through his lawyers, Imamoglu said he was “honest and proud” of the protesters who were “protecting our republic, our democracy, the future of a single Turk and the will of our nation.”
The DE-Kurda opposition party, which has retired 10 of its own elected mayors during the past year and replaced by trusts designated by the Government has also supported the protests.
“There is no explanation for this action against [someone] Chosen by millions of Isannbulitas … We want Ekrem Imamoglu … and the other mayors returned to their positions and we will continue to fight for this, “said Dem Meral Legislator Danis Bestas.
Going to the crowds outside the City Council on Friday, the leader of Chp, Ozgur Ozel, said that 300,000 people had joined the demonstration that night.
Several hours before, Erdogan had fired a warning shot over Ozel’s arches, accusing him of “serious irresponsibility”, which increases the possibility that the ChP leader could also face a legal sanction.
“Those who cause our citizens and make them face our security forces are committing a clear crime,” said Istanbul Davut Gul governor in X Today.
The measure against Imamoglu has harmed the financial and Lira Turkish markets, and the Bist 100 index of the Stock Exchange closed almost eight percent on Friday.
