Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, assured Friday, March 21, that Turkey would not give in to the “terror of the street”, on the third day of demonstrations launched by the arrest of the opposition mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, detained for “terrorism” and “corruption”. “Turkey will not be delivered to the terror of the street,” said the head of state, saying that the protests on the appeal of the opposition would lead to a “dead end”. Özgür Özel, the leader of the People’s Republican Party (CHP, Social Democrat), the first opposition force to which Mr. Imamoglu belongs, urged the Turks to descend into the streets at 8:30 p.m., after the breakdown of Ramadan fasting, despite the warnings of the authorities.
“Now, no one should expect the CHP to make politics in rooms or buildings. Now, we are in the street and in places,” said Mr. Özel on Thursday evening in front of the municipality of Istanbul, where thousands of demonstrators were gathered for the second evening in a row in support of the city mayor, the main opponent of President Erdogan.
Two bridges and several large roads leading to the headquarters of the municipality of Istanbul were closed to traffic Friday for twenty-four hours. According to an AFP count, demonstrations have taken place since Wednesday in at least 32 of the 81 Turkish provinces. The Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunç, described as “illegal and unacceptable” repeated calls for the opposition to demonstrate. This wave of protest has been unprecedented since the major events in 2013, which had started on Taksim Square.
“Opposition shows”
In Istanbul, where the rallies were prohibited until Sunday, the situation intensified Thursday evening. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent demonstrators from going to Taksim square from the town hall. In Ankara, AFP journalists have reported the use of water cannons and rubber bullets by the police. According to the authorities, 53 people were arrested and 16 police officers injured during clashes with the demonstrators. The authorities also banned any gathering until Tuesday evening in Ankara and Izmir, the third city in the country, favorable to the opposition.
Ekrem Imamoglu, who was auditioned by investigators on Friday afternoon, was to be invested on Sunday as CHP candidate in the next presidential election. However, his university degree, obtained after his triumphant re -election last year, was canceled on Tuesday evening, a few hours before his arrest. This decision constitutes an additional obstacle for him, because the Turkish Constitution requires that any candidate for the presidency has a higher education diploma.
“Neither thief nor terrorist”
The charges weighing against him, in particular that of “support for terrorism”, make his supporters fear that he can be imprisoned at the end of his police custody on Sunday and replaced by an administrator appointed by the State. “The mayor is neither corrupt, thief, terrorist,” said the chief of the CHP on Thursday evening at the crowd gathered in front of the town hall of Istanbul, promising to “not abandon the struggle until Imamoglu and the other imprisoned mayors are released”.
A total of 90 people, mostly arrested at the same time as the mayor, were still in police custody on Friday, according to the Turkish press. This challenge comes a year after the debacle suffered by the President Erdogan Private and Development Party (AKP) during municipal elections, in a context of an economic crisis. The events weighed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Friday: shortly before 5 p.m., its star index fell by almost 8 %. Faced with this unscrewing, the quotes were suspended twice in the morning.