Protests intensify on second day of questioning for detained Istanbul mayor

Hundreds of supporters of detained Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu have gathered in front of a courthouse where the challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faced further questioning over allegations of corruption and terror links.

The arrest this week of the popular opposition figure has intensified political tensions and sparked widespread protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.

Many view his arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove Imamoglu from the next presidential race, scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject the accusation and say Turkey’s courts are independent.

The demonstrations were largely peaceful but a group of protesters, trying to break through barricades to reach Istanbul’s main square, threw flares, stones and other objects at police, who responded with pepper spray. Some demonstrators said rubber bullets were fired.

Police used water cannons and tear gas to scatter demonstrators in Ankara.

Earlier, interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said 343 suspects had been detained in protests in major cities on Friday night, adding: “There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation.”

Imamoglu was detained on Wednesday after a dawn raid on his residence over allegations of financial crimes and links to Kurdish militants. Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.

On Friday, police in Istanbul used pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city’s historic aqueduct while hurling flares, stones and other objects at officers.

Police also dispersed groups that had rallied outside of the city hall for a third night running, after the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, Ozgur Ozel, delivered a speech in support of the mayor.

Simultaneously, police broke up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, resorting to forceful measures at times, according to television images. Thousands marched in several other cities calling on the government to resign.

Earlier, Mr Erdogan said the government would not tolerate street protests and accused the opposition party of links to corruption and terror organisations.

The Istanbul governor’s office announced it was expanding a ban on demonstrations until March 26 and imposed restrictions on the entry and exit of vehicles deemed to be transporting people “likely to participate in unlawful activities”.

Mr Erdogan on Saturday accused the CHP’s leadership of turning the party “into an apparatus to absolve a handful of municipal robbers who have become blinded by money”.

He also accused it of “doing everything to disturb the public peace, to polarise the nation.”

Imamoglu’s arrest came days before he was expected to be nominated as the CHP presidential candidate in a primary on Sunday. Mr Ozel has said the primary, in which around 1.5 million delegates can vote, will go ahead as planned.

The opposition party has also urged citizens to participate in a symbolic election on Sunday — through improvised ballot boxes to be set up across Turkey — to show solidarity with Imamoglu.

In a tweet posted shortly before his arrival at the courthouse, Imamoglu urged the public to safeguard the ballot boxes for Sunday’s primary: “Don’t forget: they are very afraid of you and your democratic right to vote.”

In an earlier message, he described his arrest as a “coup” and accused the government of exploiting the judiciary and worsening the country’s troubled economy.