Turkey’s CHP party leader visits jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in prison
The head of Turkey’s main opposition party has visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu after six nights of mass protests calling for his release.
İmamoğlu, who was arrested on 19 March on corruption charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 22-year rule.
His arrest has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked demonstrations in cities across the country, some of which have turned violent.
The government insists Turkey’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence.
Özgür Özel, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), held a two-hour meeting with İmamoğlu at Silivri Prison, west of Istanbul.
Özel told reporters that he was “ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through.”
He described İmamoğlu and two jailed CHP district mayors he also met as “three lions inside, standing tall, with their heads held high…proud of themselves, their families, their colleagues, not afraid.”
Özel announced the night before that Tuesday evening would be CHP’s final rally outside Istanbul’s City Hall, calling for people to join in.
He also said the party would appoint a member to the municipal council to act as mayor in İmamoğlu’s place, staving off the possibility of a state-appointed replacement.
Crackdown on media and activists
Students across Turkey protested and occupied campuses on Tuesday after declaring a boycott of classes.
In Istanbul, thousands gathered in a park before marching to Şişli district, where the elected mayor has been jailed and replaced with a government appointee.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have been cracking down on journalists as protests have grown.
The Media and Law Studies Association, a civil society group, said 11 journalists who were detained for covering banned protests in Istanbul were brought to the city’s Çağlayan Courthouse to answer charges of violating the law on meetings and demonstrations.
The journalists were among more than 200 people prosecutors have recommended for imprisonment pending trial, including left-wing activists rounded up at their homes in raids early Monday.
By late Tuesday, 172 people, including seven journalists, had been jailed ahead of trial.
The head of the CHP’s Istanbul branch, Özgür Celik, shared a letter he received from the prosecutor’s office ordering the removal of İmamoğlu’s posters. He said he would not comply.
“You will see more of Mayor Ekrem on the balconies of houses, in squares, on the streets and on the walls,” Celik posted on X.
Demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as smaller cities and towns across Turkey, have been largely peaceful with protesters demanding İmamoğlu’s release and an end to democratic backsliding.
Some turned violent, with officers deploying water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray and firing plastic pellets at protesters, some of whom have hurled stones, fireworks and other objects at riot police.
The governors of Ankara and Izmir on Tuesday extended bans on demonstrations to 1 April and 29 March, respectively. The ban in Istanbul currently ends on Thursday.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said early Tuesday that police had detained 43 “provocateurs” over what he said were “vile insults” hurled at Erdoğan and his family at protests.
Later he posted that 1,418 people had been detained since Wednesday last week, and 979 suspects were currently in custody.
“No concessions will be made to those who attempt to terrorise the streets,” he wrote on X.
Özel and İmamoğlu’s social media accounts posted condemnations of insults hurled at Erdoğan’s mother.
Addressing a Ramadan fast-breaking meal in Ankara, Erdoğan called on people to “know their limits, maintain moderation and not to cross the line between seeking rights and insult and vandalism.”
He added: “Those who spread terror in the streets and want to turn this country into a fire have no destination. The path they take is a dead end.”
