Protests resume as Istanbul mayor spends first night in custody

ISTANBUL – Protesters gathered in Istanbul for a second day on March 20 after police detained the city’s powerful mayor in a graft and terror probe that the opposition has slammed as a political “coup”.

Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, was

detained by hundreds of police officers before dawn on March 19

, four days before he was to be named as the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) candidate for the 2028 race.

The move sent Turkey’s financial markets into a tailspin, dealing a heavy blow to the Turkish lira that was trading at around 38 to the US dollar on March 20.

Imamoglu on March 20 urged the judiciary to take a stand against the Turkish government’s misuse of the courts to order his detention.

“I also call on tens of thousands of honourable, moral prosecutors and judges... You should stand up and take action against those colleagues who are ruining the judiciary... You cannot and must not remain silent,” he wrote on his X account in a message transmitted via his lawyers.

Turkey’s Central Bank said it would draw on its foreign exchange reserves if needed to prevent further harm to the lira, with economists saying it had already done so on March 19.

Police barricades remained up around Taksim Square and there was a heavy police presence around City Hall to enforce a four-day ban on protests.

Despite the ban, Galatasaray University students said they were boycotting lectures and several hundred began a protest march, an AFP correspondent said.

Students at Istanbul University, which on March 18 revoked Imamoglu’s degree, also began another day of protest. The move is significant because Turkish law says presidential candidates must have a higher education qualification.

In both places, protesters carried banners with slogans such as “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism” and “Together against lawlessness”.

Interrogations begin

More than 80 people were rounded up in the March 19 raids and investigators began quizzing them early on March 20, local media said.

The mayor met his lawyers, CHP said, but it was not immediately clear when he would be questioned.

Already named in a growing list of legal probes, Imamoglu – who was resoundingly re-elected in 2024 – has been accused of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation” – namely the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.

He is also under investigation for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organisation” along with 99 other suspects.

Social media and internet access remained largely restricted in Istanbul on the morning of March 20, according to online censorship monitor Free Web Turkey.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 37 people had so far been detained for posting content online that was deemed “provocative” and more investigations were under way.

The authorities began blocking access to social networks early on March 19, with online services still noticeably slow a day later.

Despite the protest ban, thousands gathered outside City Hall late on March 19, chanting angry slogans including “Erdogan, dictator!” and “Government, resign!”

Backlash

The move against Imamoglu was angrily denounced by the CHP as “a coup”.

“Imamoglu’s only crime was that he was taking the lead in opinion polls,” CHP head and opposition leader Ozgur Ozel told the crowds at the protest on the night of March 19, standing alongside Imamoglu’s wife, Dilek.

“His only crime was that he won the hearts of the people. His only crime was he would be the next president,” he said.

Mr Ozel is expected to address protesters at City Hall again at 1.30am on March 21 (Singapore time), a party spokesperson told AFP.

Under the Constitution, Mr Erdogan – who has been president for more than a decade – cannot run again in the 2028 race, but he is seeking ways to change the Constitution, although he will need the opposition’s support.

Mr Hamish Kinnear, a senior analyst with Verisk Maplecroft risk consultancy, said the move against Imamoglu could end up harming those plans.

“It could upset the government’s plan to push through constitutional change that would enable Mr Erdogan to run for a third term,” he said.

Mr Erdogan already changed the Constitution to introduce the presidential system after serving as premier for 11 years. AFP