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Chuck DarwinIstanbul Mayor <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ekrem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Ekrem</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Imamoglu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Imamoglu</a>, a potential challenger to longtime Turkey's conservative President <a href="https://c.im/tags/Recep" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Recep</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Tayyip" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Tayyip</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Erdogan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Erdogan</a>, appeared in court on Saturday, charged with corruption and terrorism through alleged links to Kurdish-militants. Turkish prosecutors early on Sunday urged Imamoglu and four aides be jailed on the charges.   Imamoglu was detained on Wednesday, along with dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors. Public protests have erupted in more than a dozen cities in response to the arrests.  Many view Imamoglu's detention as as a politically-driven attempt to remove one of Erdogan's key rivals in the next presidential race, scheduled for 2028. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-large-crowds-rally-as-imamoglu-appears-in-court/a-72008623" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-large-crowds-rally-as-imamoglu-appears-in-court/a-72008623</a>

Chuck DarwinTurkey’s protests over Istanbul mayor grow into ‘fight about democracy’ When demonstrators gathered at Istanbul’s city hall last week in outrage at the arrest of mayor <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ekrem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Ekrem</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/%C4%B0mamo%C4%9Flu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#İmamoğlu</a>, 26-year-old Azra said she was initially too scared to defy a ban on gatherings. As protests grew on university campuses and in cities and towns across Turkey, she could no longer resist joining.“I saw the spark in people’s eyes and the excitement on their faces, and I decided I had to come down here,” she said with a grin, standing among tens of thousands that defied a ban on assembly to fill the streets around city hall on Friday night. Despite the crowds, Azra feared reprisals and declined to give her full name. Many demonstrators were masked in a bid to defy facial recognition technology and fearing the teargas or pepper spray sometimes deployed by the police. Others smiled and took selfies to celebrate as fireworks illuminated the night sky.The arrest of the mayor of Turkey’s largest city in a dawn raid last week was a watershed moment in the country’s prolonged shift away from democracy. Opponents of president <a href="https://c.im/tags/Recep" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Recep</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Tayyip" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Tayyip</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Erdogan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Erdogan</a> fear it is a move to sideline the sole challenger capable of defeating him in upcoming elections, expected before 2028.Early on Sunday, prosecutors requested the formal arrest and jailing pending trial of İmamoğlu, who was being held pending a court decision. On Saturday, protests in support of İmamoğlu erupted in Istanbul – where flares and stones where thrown at police, who responded with pepper spray – while in Ankara, the capital, police used water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.  The interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said 323 people had been detained following protests on Saturday night. Earlier, he said: “There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation.”During the week, İmamoğlu and more than 100 other people including municipal officials and the head of the mayor’s construction firm were served detention orders and accused of embezzlement and corruption – charges the mayor denies. He also denies terrorism charges levelled at him over collaboration with a leftwing political coalition prior to local elections last year, which saw major losses for Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP).Justice minister Yılmaz Tunç attempted to rebuff any suspicion the charges against İmamoğlu and others from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were politicised. “Attempting to associate judicial investigations and cases with our president is, to say the least, an act of audacity and irresponsibility,” he said.Within days, what began as protests in response to İmamoğlu’s detention has grown into something more. “This is bigger than İmamoğlu. It’s about a fight for democracy, law and equal rights,” said Azra as demonstrators massed around her.The Turkish president has long sought to retake Istanbul from opposition control, fuelling protesters’ joy at defying a ban on gatherings in the city where Erdoğa began his political career as mayor. Standing outside a metro station as hundreds of cheering people poured into the street, breaking into anti-government chants and banging on the escalators, another protester, named Diler, called the demonstrations “a response to the pressure that has built up over years”.“There are problems with the economy, with education, with the health system,” she said in a nod to the economic crisis that has seen the cost of living soar. “We are fed up with this government.” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/22/turkey-protests-istanbul-mayor-grow-into-fight-about-democracy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/22/turkey-protests-istanbul-mayor-grow-into-fight-about-democracy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</a>

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