Protests continues in Türkiye with arrests and violent clashes with police

Protests continued in Türkiye, where authorities have arrested more than 1,400 demonstrators since the start of a widespread movement a week ago to denounce the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a prominent opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Tens of thousands of people gathered for the seventh consecutive night in front of Istanbul City Hall at the call of the opposition.

On Tuesday evening, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition force in Türkiye, called for a mass demonstration in Istanbul on Saturday in support of the city’s imprisoned mayor.

Özgür Özel addressed a crowd gathered in front of the Istanbul municipality building, saying, “Will you participate in the major demonstration on Saturday in support of Ekrem İmamoğlu, to oppose his arrest… And to say that we want early elections?”

Thousands of students, most of them masked for fear of being identified by police, marched Tuesday evening to applause from local residents in an area on the European side of the city of Istanbul.

Turkish authorities announced the arrest of 1,418 people since March 19 for participating in banned gatherings, which have faced unprecedented protests since the Gezi Park movement, which began in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in 2013.

An Istanbul court on Tuesday ordered the pretrial detention of seven Turkish journalists, including one from Agence France-Presse, on charges of participating in banned gatherings in the country’s three largest cities since last week.

As for the international comments on the situation in Türkiye, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern over these arrests and demonstrations during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on Tuesday.

The US State Department said in a statement that Rubio expressed concern about recent arrests and protests in Türkiye.

This is the first official response from the US Secretary of State to the Turkish government’s handling of the protests, as Washington has so far limited itself to demanding respect for human rights.

The Council of Europe on Tuesday condemned the “disproportionate use of force” during demonstrations in the country and called on the authorities to respect their human rights obligations.

The United Nations expressed concern on Tuesday over Türkiye’s use of mass arrests amid nationwide protests and urged authorities to investigate allegations of unlawful use of force against demonstrators.

For its part, the French presidency called on Tuesday for İmamoğlu’s release, urging Türkiye to act as “an important democratic partner”.

An advisor to President Emmanuel Macron said during a press conference, “We condemn the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, and we hope for his release… Türkiye is an important partner, but we want an important democratic partner”.

The non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders condemned the outrageous decision, which reflects the current dangerous situation in Türkiye, explaining that this is the first-time journalists have been detained while carrying out their work on the basis of this law against gatherings.

According to the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, 979 protesters were detained by police, while 478 were referred to court.

Ankara provincial authorities announced on Tuesday that they were extending the ban on gatherings in the Turkish capital until April 1, following protests over the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu on corruption charges.

Authorities took a similar decision in Izmir, the country’s third-largest city and a stronghold of the opposition, until March 29.

The same ban has been in effect for six days in Istanbul, where thousands defy it every night to gather in front of the municipality headquarters.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) called for a boycott of eleven brands known to be close to the Turkish authorities, including a popular coffee chain, as CHP leader said, “We can make our own coffee”.

On the other hand, the Turkish president Erdoğan told the opposition in a televised address on Monday evening, “Stop disrupting our citizens’ peace with your provocations”.