The opposition of turkeys urges peaceful demonstrations on the arrest of mayors of Istanbul

On Friday, the head of the main opposition of Turkey renewed an appeal to supporters for the streets for peaceful demonstrations against the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul and Rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He came then that the authorities widen a ban on protests and criticized the appeal as irresponsible.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on Wednesday during a dawn raid at his residence for alleged ties of corruption and terrorism, degenerating a repression against opposition figures and dissident voices.

Several other leading figures, including two district mayors, have also been detained.

Many consider arrest as a politically motivated attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and a key challenger to Mr. Erdogan of the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.

Government representatives reject the accusations according to which legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that the courts of Turkey operate independently.

The newspaper Cumhuriyet and other media reported that the police had started to question Mr. Imamoglu on Friday afternoon. The mayor can be held at no cost up to four days.

Erdogan said the government would not tolerate street demonstrations and have accused the opposition party of being associated with corruption, marginal groups and terrorist organizations.

“We see that an anti-corruption operation in Istanbul is used as an excuse to stir up disorders in our streets. I want it to be known that we do not allow a handful of opportunists to make Turkey disorders just to protect their looting diets,” said Erdogan.

“Point the streets instead of the hearing rooms to defend theft, looting, anarchy and fraud is serious irresponsibility,” said Erdogan.

“Just as we have not gone to the terrorism of the street so far, we will not bow either to vandalism in the future.”

Since the arrest of Mr. Imamoglu, thousands of people have gathered at the town hall of Istanbul for night gatherings, and clashes have broken out between demonstrators and the police in Istanbul, the Turkish capital Ankara and the third city of Turkey, Izmir.

The most violent confrontation took place at the technical university of the Middle East of Ankara on Thursday, when the police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstration. The students said that rubber bullets were used, but the government denied it.

The Interior Ministry said that more than 50 people had been detained and 16 police officers were injured, following demonstrations.

Friday, the authorities of Ankara and Izmir announced a five -day ban on demonstrations, following a similar ban imposed earlier by the Governor's office of Istanbul.

The prohibitions intervened after the Minister of Justice of the country recognized the right of people to demonstrate, but said that street protests in the midst of the current judicial inquiries were unacceptable.

However, Ozgur Ozel, president of the Republican People's Party, CHP, launched a new call for people to gather and demonstrate them.

“I invite tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions to demonstrate peacefully, express our democratic reaction and exercise our constitutional rights,” he said.

Mr. Ozel said: “To those who say that calling people in the streets is irresponsible, I say this: we are not those who fill these streets and squares. It is your anarchy and your injustice that brought people out.”

The arrest of Mr. Imamoglu intervened just a few days before he was appointed the presidential candidate of the Republican Persons of the Opposition in primary on Sunday.

Ozel said the primary, where approximately 1.5 million delegates can vote, would continue as planned.

The CHP also urged citizens to participate in a symbolic election on Sunday – through polls to be installed across Turkey – to show solidarity with Mr. Imamoglu.

Analysts say that Mr. Imamoglu could be withdrawn from his duties and replaced by a “fiduciary mayor”, if he is officially accused of links to the workers' workers in prohibited, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Meanwhile, Ozel announced that the CHP had decided to hold an extraordinary party congress on April 6, to thwart an alleged attempt by the authorities to appoint a “fiduciary president” to lead the party.

The decision has occurred in the midst of speculations according to which the authorities could seek to cancel the last congress of the party which was held in 2023 for the purchase of alleged votes and other irregularities, and appoint a handpicked leader.

Friday, the Borsa Istanbul reference index fell by around 7%, which caused temporary negotiation suspensions aimed at preventing panic sales.