More than 1,800 people arrested in Turkiye amid mass protests over jailed mayor
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A woman holds a Turkish flag during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 26, 2025. — Reuters
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Istanbul: Turkey on Thursday rejected “biased” international statements about the arrest of Istanbul Acryam Amoglo and the mayor of the nationwide mass protests, as authorities detained more than 1,800 people on the streets in the protest.
Amoglo is the biggest political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan who guides him in some elections. He was jailed for a pending trial for the graft on Sunday, and with his arrest, Turkey watched anti -government protests in a decade and witnessed large -scale detainees across the country.
The Central Opposition of the Amoglovo, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), other opposition parties, rights groups and Western powers have all said that the case against the mayor – the dismissal of his job – Erdogan was a political attempt to eliminate a possible election threat.
The government denies any influence on the judiciary and says that the courts are free.
Talking to international media representatives in Istanbul, Minister of Justice Yelmaz Tin said that Ankara had asked his European partners to work with “general understanding”, and they needed the attraction of the allegations leveled against Amoglo.
“We do not want to arrest a politician, but if there is evidence of the violation, then this can happen,” Tin said through an translator.
“If we look at the attraction of the allegations, and since the danger that the evidence can be hidden, the judiciary has made a reasonable decision,” he added.
The CHP has demanded the Turks to continue the protest, saying it will organize meetings and gatherings in Istanbul and elsewhere. Erdogan has rejected the protest as a “show” and warned about the legal consequences for the protesters.
Interior Minister Ali Yarlaikia said that 1,879 people were detained after the protests broke out last Wednesday, adding that the courts sent 260 of them jail for trial.
He added that 489 was released and 662 others are still being prosecuted, while 150 police officers were injured.
Rights groups have called on Turkey to investigate whether they dispersed the crowd and urged the police to use excessive use of force, and urged the government to allow demonstrations, which have been largely peaceful. Western leaders have said that the case has been marked in the democratic.
Asked about the time of the arrest of Amoglo, which came a few days before his announcement as the CHP presidential candidate in the next election-which was set for 2028-and after a month-long legal crackdown on the opposition, Tin said that the judiciary only considered criminal information.
The minister added that being an elected official does not mean that he can get immunity.
He also said that Erdogan was not being informed about the case against Amoglu due to the confidentiality of the matter, though the President made several comments, accusing the CHP and its municipalities of corruption.
One day before the detainees of Amogloo last week, a university canceled its diploma – the need for eligibility for candidates in the presidential election.
The demonstration in Istanbul was asked about the arrest and release of seven local journalists, including a photojournalist of the Agencies French Press (AFP), Tin said that there was a misunderstanding of Turkish journalists and did not give reporters to reporters.
Without reporters, borders, who are a lawyer for an independent speech, ranked 158th out of 180 countries in their 2024 Press Freedom Index.
It states that about 90 % of the media was under government influence, which the Turks indicated more towards the opposition or free news. The index does not reflect the truth, Tonak said.
