Thousands rally in Istanbul as Erdogan issues warning against protests over mayor's arrest

ISTANBUL (AP) — Tens of thousands of people rallied at Istanbul's city hall for a third day Friday to protest the arrest of Istanbul's mayor and top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the Turkish leader's stern warning that street protests would not be tolerated.

The rally remained peaceful. However, some 500 meters (yards) away, police used pepper spray and tear gas to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city's historic aqueduct and threw flares and other objects at them.

Water cannons were used to break up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday over alleged corruption and terror links, escalating a crackdown on opposition figures and dissenting voices. Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.

Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey's courts operate independently.

Imamoglu was questioned by police for four hours over corruption accusations, during which he denied all the charges, the Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media reported. He was expected to be transferred to a courthouse Saturday evening for questioning by prosecutors.

His arrest has sparked the largest protests since 2013, when Turkey was rocked by mass anti-government demonstrations that left eight people dead.

On Friday, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, Ozgur Ozel, renewed a call on supporters to take to the streets for peaceful demonstrations, while authorities widened a ban on protests and criticized the appeal as irresponsible.

“I invite tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions, to peacefully demonstrate, express our democratic reaction, and exercise our constitutional rights,” he said.

Addressing the rally, Ozel accused Erdogan of using the judiciary as tool after failing to defeat the mayor “in a fair way.”

Erdogan, increasingly authoritarian after more than two decades in office, said the government would not tolerate street protests and accused the opposition party of links to corruption and terror organizations.

“An anti-corruption operation in Istanbul is being used as an excuse to stir unrest in our streets. I want it to be known that we will not allow a handful of opportunists to bring unrest to Turkey just to protect their plundering schemes,” Erdogan said.

“Pointing to the streets instead of courtrooms to defend theft, plunder, lawlessness and fraud is a grave irresponsibility,” Erdogan said. “Just as we have not surrendered to street terrorism until now, we will not bow to vandalism in the future either.”

The most violent clash was at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University late Thursday, when police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstration. Students said rubber bullets were used, but the government denied that.

The Interior Ministry said that more than 50 people were detained and 16 police officers were injured.

On Friday, authorities in Ankara and Izmir announced a five-day ban on demonstrations, following a similar measure imposed earlier in Istanbul. Authorities on Friday announced more road closures in Istanbul and shuttered metro stops near the university in Ankara.

Imamoglu’s arrest came just days before he was expected to be nominated as the opposition Republican People’s Party’s presidential candidate in a primary on Sunday. Ozel has said that the primary, where around 1.5 million delegates can vote, will go ahead as planned.

The opposition party has also urged citizens to participate in a symbolic election on Sunday — through improvised ballot boxes to be set up across Turkey — to show solidarity with Imamoglu.

Analysts say Imamoglu could be removed from office and replaced by a “trustee mayor,” if he is formally charged with links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Meanwhile, Ozel also said the opposition party would hold an extraordinary party congress on April 6, to thwart any attempts by the authorities to appoint a “trustee chairman” to lead the party. The decision came amid speculation that authorities could annul the party’s last congress, held in 2023, over alleged vote-buying and other irregularities, and appoint a handpicked leader.

On Friday, the Borsa Istanbul's benchmark index dropped by around 7%, prompting temporary trading suspensions aimed at preventing panic-driven sell-offs.