Protests Erupt in Istanbul Over Erdogan Rival’s Arrest

Massive crowds of students took to the streets of Istanbul on Monday, marking the latest wave of protests triggered by the controversial arrest of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. His detention has ignited Turkey's most significant civil unrest in years, with demonstrations sweeping across the country.

The protests began after Imamoglu’s arrest on March 19 and have rapidly spread to at least 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, leading to violent clashes with riot police and attracting international outrage. Over the past six days, more than 1,130 people have been arrested, including 43 on Monday alone, according to Turkey’s interior minister. Among the detained were several journalists, including an AFP photographer.

Imamoglu, a member of the opposition CHP party and a prominent Erdogan rival, is widely regarded as one of the few politicians who could challenge President Erdogan at the ballot box. What began as his leadership of Istanbul—a city pivotal to Erdogan’s rise to power—quickly devolved into his arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, and removal from office following an investigation into allegations of graft and ties to terrorism.

On Monday, students across Istanbul and Ankara boycotted university lectures in protest. In Istanbul, students, waving flags and chanting slogans, marched from the university districts to Besiktas, a bustling port on the Bosphorus. Onlookers joined the movement, clapping and banging pots and pans in support.

The demonstrators eventually made their way toward the historic peninsula, joining a nightly rally outside Istanbul's City Hall. "This is not a meeting, it’s an act of defiance against fascism!" said CHP leader Özgür Özel, addressing the sea of protesters. Many carried banners with pointed messages, one of which read: “Palaces are yours, the streets are ours,” a direct critique of Erdogan’s lavish lifestyle.

Özel also called for a nationwide boycott of pro-government media outlets that have ignored the protests, as well as businesses with known ties to the government, including a popular chain of cafes.

After meeting with his cabinet, Erdogan once again accused the opposition of stoking unrest. “Stop playing with the nation’s nerves,” he said, asserting that the government had handled the economy’s recent fluctuations “successfully.”

However, the political fallout from Imamoglu’s arrest has severely impacted Turkey’s financial markets. The Turkish lira has plunged, and the BIST 100 index—a key benchmark for Turkish stocks—fell by nearly 8% on Friday, although it recovered somewhat on Monday, closing with a modest 3% gain.

Imamoglu’s arrest also comes at a time of political speculation. On Sunday, he was overwhelmingly chosen as the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election, fueling widespread belief that the timing of his arrest is politically motivated, aimed at sidelining a formidable opponent to Erdogan.

The international community has condemned the move. Germany called Imamoglu’s arrest "totally unacceptable," while Greece warned that the undermining of civil liberties "cannot be tolerated." The European Union echoed these concerns, urging Ankara to demonstrate "a clear commitment to democratic norms." France’s foreign ministry labeled the arrest a "serious attack on democracy."

In a further escalation of tensions, police detained 10 Turkish journalists in the early hours of Monday morning, including an AFP photographer. These arrests were made for simply covering the ongoing protests, according to the MLSA rights group. The crackdown on the press has been condemned by the Journalists' Union of Turkey and other media associations, which issued a joint statement calling for an end to violence against reporters. "Stop targeting journalists!" the groups demanded, decrying the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against journalists in the field.

Imamoglu’s wife, Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, condemned the repression, stating, "What is being done to members of the press and journalists is a matter of freedom. None of us can remain silent about this." Imamoglu himself, who has described the legal actions against him as a "political execution without trial," sent a defiant message from jail through his lawyers: "I wear a white shirt that you cannot stain. I have a strong arm that you cannot twist. I won’t budge an inch. I will win this war."