Türkiye: Thousands of demonstrators against the arrest of Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the main competitor of Erdogan
IMamoglu, which many consider as the main political opponent of President Tayyip Erdogan, 22, was imprisoned on March 23, pending a trial of corruption.
Thousands of people moved to the streets in Torke on Saturday to protest against the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, ECREM IMMAMOGL. The demonstration was organized by the Republican Party of the People (CHP), the oldest political formation in Türkiye.
Despite the brutal repression Similar manifestations On the part of the security forces, in the previous days, thousands of citizens gathered in the Maltepe neighborhood, on the Asian side of the city, to express their support for The mayor of Istanbul. From the first hour of Saturday, the transfers of the rented Bosphorus by the protesters party who hold the Turkish flag and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of the Turkish nation, transferred to the scene of the demonstration.
Ekrem ̇mamoglu detention has led A wave of protests In all unprecedented Türkiye in the past decade, tens of thousands of demonstrators went out to the streets every night.
In an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde”, the opposition leader Ozgür Special He announced regular demonstrations “every Saturday in a Turkish city” and every Wednesday night in Istanbul. “From now on, we think the arrests will decrease,” Ozil said. Then the leader of the Kimali Party announced that he was ready to “risk eight or 10 years in prison if necessary. If we do not reject this attempt to turn, it will be implemented in the polls“.
Brutal repression and collective arrests in Türkiye
Students in the country mainly lead students, but the repression continues Collective arrests From the demonstrators, Journalists And lawyers. In Istanbul alone, 511 students were arrested on Friday, 275 of whom were imprisoned, according to lawyer Verhat Guzel.
According to the latest official data published on Thursday, At least 2000 people They were arrested, of which 260 prisoners. Swedish journalist Joachim Madian, who was arrested on Thursday, was detained on the plane’s ladder, in Istanbul prison on Friday night, according to the newspaper editor in which he works.
More than ten Turkish journalists were arrested at least during the week. Most of them have been released, but they continue Accused of participating in the prohibited protests They covered the means for those who work, including a photographer from the Agence France -Presse, Yassin Akgul, feared that there will be “a will to prevent journalists from doing their work.”
