Immediately after the arrest, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced a four -day demonstration ban. At the same time, several social media platforms were blocked in the country.
Nevertheless, thousands of people have gone out into the streets to protest against the arrest.
In Istanbul, large crowds gathered on the streets, at metro stations and university areas. “Erdogan, dictator!” And “Imamoglu, you’re not alone!” It was scanned outside the City Hall late Wednesday evening, reports the BBC.
Pictures from the capital Ankara show clashes between protesters and police, where police use pepper spray to disperse the crowds.
More protests are expected across the country in the coming days when other opposition leaders, including Imamoglus wife, urged people to “raise their voices”.
Suspected of corruption
Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been described as President Erdogan’s main challenger. In a few days he would most likely be elected presidential candidate for the CHP party in the 2028 presidential election.
He was arrested on Wednesday morning, suspected of, among other things, corruption and for helping the terrorist group PKK.
“The prosecutor even says he is the leader of a criminal organization, there are enormous allegations,” says SVT’s Turkey correspondent Tomas Thorén, who adds that it was in the air that Imamoglu would be arrested because of the threat to Erdogan.
Erdogan denies to interference
Ekrem Imamoglu himself has denied the charges. His party CHP has condemned the arrest and called it “a coup against democracy and our next president”.
Erdogan and his party AKP have in turn rejected the claims that the arrest is a political feature and insisted that Turkey’s courts are independent.
“Characterizing investigations carried out by an impartial and independent judicial system as a coup is extremely dangerous and wrong,” said Turkey’s Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc in a statement.