Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival – has been arrested alongside more than 100 others, sparking street riots
Thousands of protestors are flooding the streets of Istanbul in Turkey and clashing with police after more than 100 people – including the city’s mayor – were arrested.
There is currently a ban on mass gatherings in the country but that hasn’t stopped many people from coming out to stand up for what they think is right. They are being met by hundreds of riot police, armed with tear gas and rubber bullets which are being fired indiscriminately into the crowds. Here the Mirror takes a look at what is happening, why it is happening, and what might happen next in Turkey…
Why are Turkey protestors clashing with police?
The mass unrest was triggered on Sunday when Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival – was thrown in jail pending a trial on corruption charges. Other politicians, journalists and businessmen were detained as part of an investigation on Wednesday.
Imamoglu was formally charged on Sunday with “establishing and managing a criminal organisation, taking bribes, extortion, unlawfully recording personal data and rigging a tender”. He was remanded in custody pending trial. A request for him to be imprisoned on terror-related charges was rejected, although he still faces prosecution.
The Interior Ministry later announced that Imamoglu had been suspended from duty as a “temporary measure”. The municipality had previously appointed an acting mayor from its governing council. The politician was taken to Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, as more than 1.7 million members of his opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, held a primary election endorsing him as its presidential candidate. Millions of non-members also cast votes in a “solidarity ballot”, the party said.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019 in a major blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16million, alleging irregularities. The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won. The mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which the CHP made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.
What is happening in Istanbul right now?
Istanbul is now in its fifth day of protests, which have also spread to other parts of Turkey. The government says so far 1,133 people have been arrested.
It says people have been “abusing” the right to protest, and warns that “terrorising the streets” will not be tolerated. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but tensions were inflamed last night as police and protesters clashed.
Demonstrators are out in huge numbers and many can be seen waving Turkish flags while chanting in front of police. The officers are armed in riot gear and have been using tear gas and rubber bullets to break up demonstrations.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya issued a statement on social media, quoting from Turkey’s constitution. He accused protestors of “attempting to disrupt public order, inciting street events and attacking our police”. He added: “Such actions are aimed at disrupting the peace and security of our people. We are clearly warning you from here: Let no one try to use our youth and our people as a shield for their own political ambitions.”
Turkey protests – what might happen next?
Turkey’s next presidential election is more than three years away and the arrested Ekrem Imamoglu still remains the opposition’s candidate against the incumbent Erdogan. The imprisonment of Imamoglu has come at a time when Turkey finds itself at the centre of geopolitical turmoil that observers say has freed Erdogan to target his most dangerous opponent.
As mayor of the economic and cultural capital of Turkey, Imamoglu is probably Turkey’s second-highest profile politician after Erdogan. Analysts, however, say a convergence of international factors gave Erdogan the opportunity to try to neutralise the main threat in elections due to be held in 2028, which could come sooner.
Since 2016, when Erdogan faced an attempted coup, Turkey’s courts have widened their crackdown on opposition parties, using charges such as graft or ties to Kurdish militants to discredit his rivals. The government says the courts are fully independent and denies claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated.
The European Union, which usually offers criticism of Turkey’s democratic slide, currently finds itself in a weaker position vis-à-vis Turkey due to “American abandonment” of European defence, Russian aggression, and its “own internal demons” from EU-sceptic forces using migration as a tool to gain relevance, according to Monica Marks, professor of Middle East studies at New York University Abu Dhabi.
During the course of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has maintained close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv and has repeatedly offered to act as a mediator in peace talks. Turkey is also emboldened by the collapse of the Assad government in neighbouring Syria at the hands of rebels it supported over the course of the war.
On migration to Europe, Ankara has acted as a barrier since it signed a 2016 deal in which it agreed to prevent migrants crossing its borders and seas to reach the EU. All these strands increase Turkey’s geopolitical importance to Europe.
