On Thursday, Turkish anti-riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, while the demonstrators protested a second night outside the town hall of Istanbul for the shock arrest of the Imamoglu of Mayor Ekrem in a transplant and terror probe.
The powerful and popular imamoglu – which is the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – was detained before Dawn on Wednesday, just a few days before he was appointed candidate of his opposition party CHP for the 2028 presidential election.
Imamoglu urged the nation and the judiciary to take a stand against what his party described as a political “coup”.
While thousands of people gathered under close security on Thursday, a handful of students tried to cross the barriers, which caused warm -up with police officers who pulled rubber bullets, according to an AFP correspondent on the scene.
A second correspondent said the police “used rubber bullets and a lot of tear gas”.
He was not immediately clear if someone was injured.
Ozgur Ozel, chief of the main Opposition CHP party, warned the police not to cause demonstrators by pulling tear gas or rubber bullets.
“If this happens, the Istanbul police will be held responsible,” he warned the podium.
It was the second night that thousands of people had challenged a prohibition of protest to come together in front of the town hall to express their anger against the detention of Imamoglu.
“The mayor Ekrem is not involved in corruption or terror. He is not a thief or a terrorist,” said Ozel, warning Erdogan that the demonstrations would not stop.
“I have not filled this square and these streets. You have done so. They are full because of you,” he said.
– 'Tayyip resigns!' –
“Tayyip, resigns!” Yelled the crowd of several thousand people, including many university students, in a pointed message to the Turkish chief.
Elsewhere in the city, demonstrators have struck pots and pots in several areas, including the high -end district of Nisantasi where cars have horny solidarity, said another AFP correspondent.
After spending his first night in detention, Imamoglu called on the nation and the judiciary to take a position against the government's decision of silence in a message on X transmitted its lawyers.
“We, as a nation, must oppose this evil,” he said, urging judges and prosecutors to “get up and take measures against those who ruin the judiciary”.
“You cannot and should not remain silent,” wrote the 53 -year -old man.
The CHP angryly denounced its arrest as a political “coup”, Ozel saying that the only crime of Imamoglu was “to take the lead in opinion polls”.
– “It's not a day's protest” –
“The detention is illegal, it aims to prevent Imamoglu from becoming president, he seeks to suffocate opponents,” a student, a student at Galatasaray university.
“This is not a day's demonstration, we will defend our rights until the end,” she said while the crowd swept in front of the town hall.
“We are here on the street to make our voice heard, young people and me will not remain silent,” said that a 19 -year -old student from the Istanbul Technical University called Yavuz.
Taksim Square and Gezi Park, both renowned for mass public demonstrations more than a decade ago, remained closed, and social media and internet access was largely limited for a second day.
The arrest sent Turkey's financial markets in a fall, bringing a hard blow to the Turkish LIRA.
The Central Bank of Turkey said that it would rely on its exchange reserves if necessary to avoid more damage to money, economists saying that it had already done it on Wednesday.
– arm the judicial system –
More than 80 people were gathered during Wednesday's raids and investigators began to question them early Thursday, local media said.
Already named in an increasing list of legal probes, Imamoglu – which was re -elected in a resounding way last year – was accused of “helping and encouraging a terrorist organization” – namely the Kurdish militant group prohibited PKK.
It is also the subject of an investigation for “corruption, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud and the illegal obtaining of personal for profit in the context of a criminal organization” as well as 99 other suspects.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya also said that 37 people had been detained for publishing online content that had been deemed “provocative” and that other surveys were underway.
Human Rights Watch called on the mayor of Istanbul to be “immediately released from police custody”, urging the government of Erdogan to ensure “that the criminal justice system is not armed for political purposes”.
According to the law, Erdogan – who has been president for more than a decade, having been a Prime Minister for 11 years before – can no longer take place in the 2028 race.
But he wants to change the constitution to allow this, a decision which requires support from the opposition, which, according to analysts, could be complicated by the arrest of Imamoglu.
Fo-HMW / YAD
