Turkish riot police detain a protester during a demonstration outside Istanbul's city hall to support Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu following his arrest, in Istanbul, on March 22, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Turkish authorities have arrested over 1,400 protesters, as street protests continue across major cities in defiance of a ban on demonstrations following the detention of Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Protesters rallied against the jailing of Imamoglu, a main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for a seventh night in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote in a post on X that Turkish police had detained 1,418 people for taking part in "illegal demonstrations," warning there would be "no concessions" for those who "terrorize the streets".
Seven journalists were also taken into custody who were charged with "taking part in illegal rallies and marches".
Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced the arrests as "scandalous", with its Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu saying it "reflects a very serious situation in Turkey".
Speaking to a group of young people in a Ramadan fast-breaking meal on Tuesday, Erdogan denounced the rallies as "street terror," urging patience and common sense amid what he described as "very sensitive days".
"Those who spread terror in the streets and want to set fire to this country have nowhere to go. The path they have taken is a dead end," he said.
But as he spoke, thousands marched through the Sisli district of Istanbul, demanding that the government resign, as a large deployment of riot police stood by.
Protesters waved flags and banners with slogans reading "Tayyip resign!" while people in apartments above banged on pots and pans in support.
Separately, thousands rallied for the seventh straight night in a protest organized by Imamoglu's Republican People's Party (CHP) in the Sarachane district, home of the Istanbul city hall that Imamoglu ran in 2019.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel called a mass rally for Saturday in Istanbul, saying it would be the "largest open-air referendum in history" and would press for early elections.
"We have had enough and we want early elections," Ozel told protesters.
The biggest protests in Turkey in over a decade began last week after Imamoglu was arrested on corruption charges, a move that opposition supporters see as a blatant violation of the rule of law.
Authorities have hit back with a crackdown, with riot police using water cannon, pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters.
The United Nations has voiced alarm at Turkey's use of mass detentions and its "unlawful blanket ban on protests," urging the authorities to probe any unlawful use of force.
