Thousands protest Istanbul mayor’s arrest (VIDEOS)

Ekrem Imamoglu had been detained on charges of corruption and alleged terror links

Thousands took to the streets of Istanbul on Wednesday to decry the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Türkiye’s largest city, who is viewed as the main political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ekrem Imamoglu, one of the key figures in the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was among a hundred people detained earlier in the day on charges of corruption and alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara. The mayor was taken into custody just days before his official nomination as CHP’s presidential candidate in the 2028 election.

Following Imamoglu’s arrest, the Turkish authorities imposed a four-day ban on demonstrations, closed down several roads in Istanbul and put restrictions on social media platforms.

However, it did not prevent protesters from taking to the streets, as huge crowds gathered outside Istanbul's police headquarters, City Hall, the main office of the Republican People's Party, and other locations.

Bu Millet Büyüktür! pic.twitter.com/Pgxkty4uLK— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) March 19, 2025

The demonstrators carried Turkish national flags and portraits of Ekrem, chanting anti-government slogans and demanding the mayor’s release.

“We came here to support the mayor. They arrested him unjustly,” one of the people in the crowd told Reuters. Another demonstrator complained to AFP that “we are living in a dictatorship.”